Twice as nice: Ellis Park gets a Greatest Rivalry flyover [video]

Ellis Park witnessed history in the making as Airlink performed its first double flyover to mark the Greatest Rivarly series between the Springboks and the All Blacks.

The first of four test matches took place on Saturday, 22 August, which the New Zealand team won 33-16.

Over thirty years ago, the rugby rivals faced off at the same venue in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.

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ELLIS PARK GETS GREATEST RIVALRY DOUBLE FLYOVER

On social media, scenes of Ellis Park’s epic double flyover left rugby fans in awe.

The commercial airline flew not one, but two aircraft over the sold-out stadium, moments before the match kicked off.

To mark the Greatest Rivalry between the countries, one aircraft was wrapped in green, representing the Springboks, while the other was black in honour of New Zealand’s All Blacks.

According to Airlink, their custom-liveried Embraer E190 aircraft performed their first-ever double flyover.

As their aircraft performed the low-level stunt, fireworks and music erupted in the stadium.

A moment for the history books! 🤩✈️

Two of Airlink’s custom-liveried Embraer aircraft performed a rare, double fly-over at a packed Ellis Park Stadium to celebrate the return of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, presented by Castle Double Malt.#Airlink proudly connecting Castle… pic.twitter.com/Zq9XuqPscG

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— Airlink (@Fly_Airlink) August 22, 2026

Airlink flyover Ellis Park#RugbysGreatestRivalry #RSAvNZL #springboks pic.twitter.com/EBVZgNuJGk

— Lefa Nyathi (@Lefa_nyathi) August 22, 2026

Last month, Airlink introduced its distinct green and black liveries to serve as the Official Domestic Airline for the 2026 Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series between the Springboks and the All Blacks, transporting both national teams and tournament personnel between their matches.

WHY AIRLINK?

Airlink was tasked with a flyover of Ellis Park, as it is the official domestic airline of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry 2026 series.

Up until last June, Emirates held the long-term naming rights and title sponsorship for Ellis Park, which was rebranded as Emirates Airline Park.

In 2024, the Emirates A380 Airbus, the largest passenger plane in operation, performed a flyover at the stadium.

However, the Dubai airline came under fire as the stunt coincided with the All Blacks’ performance of the Haka, which was inaudible due to the aircraft, fireworks and loud music.

SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer apologised for the blunder, chalked it down to “timekeeping challenges” and “simple human error”.

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