No flyover? Play the viral flapper video game instead

Airlink’s flyover at the FNB Stadium may have been cancelled, but South Africans will have a chance to pilot their own aircraft thanks to the creation of a video game called Flappy Link

This comes days after the daring double flypast over the DHL Stadium made international headlines. The airline has since volunteered to provide all necessary information about its flights to demonstrate compliance with the South African Civil Aviation Authority’s guidelines.

FLAPPY LINK VIDEO REREATES AIRLINK FLIGHT

This week, a South African software and IT services company, Glucode, launched Flappy Link, a parody of Flappy Bird, which recreates the viral scenes of Airlink’s flyover in Cape Town.

The game allows users to control an aircraft and try to clear obstacles, including birds and the DHL Stadium. In the backdrop of the game sits Table Mountain, one of the seven wonders of nature

A Top 10 leaderboard reveals the names and nationalities of its top-scoring users,

The game was released on 1 September 2026, just two days after Airlink’s flyover made international headlines.

Despite Airlink cancelling its upcoming flypast at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, Flappy Link users will still be able to “perform” the stunt in the video game.

WHY WAS THE FNB FLYOVER CANCELLED

Meanwhile, Airlink has withdrawn its application for its planned third flyover, which was set to take place on Saturday, 5 September, at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, while the SACAA was reviewing the controversial Cape Town flyover.

The main reason cited was due to bad weather. 

Airlink CEO de Villiers Engelbrecht said the forecast for Johannesburg this weekend was not suitable for a safe formation flight. This comes as a cut-off low is expected to affect parts of South Africa, bringing potentially heavy rain, strong winds and rapidly changing conditions.

This comes as the airline’s flyover has officially come under review by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).

Airlink has emphasised that its flypast was performed safely and, as a result of the unprecedented public interest it generated, it voluntarily provided the “black box” digital light data recordings to the SACAA to support its compliance review.