Following on from a successful Routes Africa and citing World Routes as a primary catalyst, Cape Town has today welcomed United Airlines’ new seasonal service from Newark/New York.
United Airlines is planning a return to the African market later this year when it will become the only carrier to fly non-stop between the US and Cape Town in South Africa.
The busiest passenger air routes on earth have been revealed in a new study published by Routesonline, with the Asia-Pacific region dominating the top 100. The research has been released ahead of World Routes 2018, taking place from 15-18 September in Guangzhou, China.
Routesonline analyses the top ten busiest air routes to, from and within Africa by passenger numbers, with the number one in the list a two-hour domestic flight costing less than $80.
The airline has agreed to initially acquire five E-Jets - three E170s and two E190s, from ECC Leasing, a wholly-owned Embraer subsidiary. It will start to receive the aircraft in the first half of this year with a further eight E190s joining the Airlink fleet subject to formalisation of lease deals.
Cape Town Airport was announced the overall winner of the Routes Africa edition of the Routes 2016 Marketing Awards last night at a ceremony in Finca Punta del Lomo, Tenerife.
Cape Town International Airport in South Africa has been rewarded for its network development initiatives after being announced as the overall winner of the Routes Africa edition of the Routes 2016 Marketing Awards which were formally announced last night during the Networking Evening event which took place at Finca Punta del Lomo, a rural complex built on a banana plantation in Tenerife, Canary Islands.
The aircraft will be the fourth 777 dedicated to its Gatwick operation that is configured in a three-class arrangement. Cape Town will be one of four long-haul destinations BA is launching from Gatwick this year, with flights to Costa Rica starting on April 27, 2016 daily flights to New York’s JFK beginning on May 1, 2016 and flights to Lima, Peru commencing on May 4, 2016.
The new flight will bring additional capacity into a market now controlled by British Airways after Virgin Atlantic Airways ended its own non-stop flights earlier this year. Sabre data shows an annual O&D demand of over 375,000 two-way passengers between the UK and Cape Town (around 1,030 passengers per day).
Gulf carrier Qatar Airways confirmed in February this year that it would introduce flights to this year’s World Routes host city as part of an expansion of its network in South Africa. The four times weekly service, as an extension of an expanded schedule between Doha and Johannesburg, will be launched from December 17, 2015, just three months after World Routes, providing an important new hub connection offering to the coastal city.
The low-cost airline currently has a fleet of five older 737-400 models and will use the 737-800s to support growth in existing markets and to support future network expansion. The additional capacity of the 737-800 versus the 737-400 of around 20 seats mean a like-for-like aircraft deployment switch will boost capacity by around 12.5 per cent.
Durban will be Turkish Airlines’ third destination in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline first introduced flights into the country with a three times weekly joint operation to Johannesburg and onward to Cape Town from its Istanbul Ataturk International Airport hub in September 2007 but has grown to offer a daily service on the route, currently flown using an Airbus A330.
South African low-cost carrier, FlySafair, is to introduce new links from Johannesburg and Cape Town to Durban and East London after initially asking the public to vote for their preferred new route among the four city pairs. The airline launched the campaign earlier this month, but rather than simply selecting the most popular choice, has decided to launch all four from the end of October 2015.
Independent South African carrier, Skywise Airlines, will announce at least one new market next month as it expands its fleet and builds on the success of its debut on the busy Johannesburg – Cape Town route. The carrier says it will bring more value to domestic travellers with the introduction of an expanded network, launching from August 2015.
The largest airline in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it has finalised preparations to start flights to Cape Town – its second destination in South Africa, and Gaborone in Botswana.
Africa continues to play an important part in Qatar Airways’ global network expansion strategy and the airline currently operates 140 flights per week to 19 African gateways.
The network growth is being facilitated by the continuous growth of the airline’s fleet and the new non-stop Doha - Cape Town route will be operated by one of the carrier’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliners which are configured in a two-class arrangement with 22 Business Class and 232 Economy Class seats.
UK carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways is to suspend flights to Cape Town, Mumbai, Tokyo and Vancouver as it instead looks to strengthen its transatlantic partnership with shareholder Delta Air Lines. The latest network changes are part of an ongoing network review and business recovery plan to return the carrier to long-term profitability.
The start-up carrier now plans offer up to ten daily flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town using two Boeing 737-400s from the final quarter of this year, with a formal start date, schedule information due to be confirmed in the coming months as reservations are opened.
