From May next year British Airways will increase its services between Cape Town and London by three flights a week during the South African winter, adding 657 seats a week on the route and increasing capacity by 30% to 1200 seats each way.
Making the announcement at a media briefing in Cape Town, BA’s GM for Africa and Europe, Gavin Halliday, said the airline’s year-round operation to Cape Town had built confidence in the route inbound and outbound and now enabled the airline to bolster its winter schedule. He said BA’s move was “testimony to the tremendous job which has been done to market Cape Town and the region as a year-round destination and business hub”. He said delivery of  BA’s new A380 and the other new  aircraft meant it had freed up some 219 seat B777-200ERs, which could now be deployed to Cape Town. They would operate alongside BA’s 20% less fuel-efficient B747-400s currently used on the route and would offer the same four-cabin configuration – First, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller. 
BA currently operates double-daily services to Cape Town during the summer season between October and March, reverting to a daily service during the winter. 
The airline by the end of this year will also open a new lounge in Cape Town, modelled on its “Galleries” lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5.
Cape Town Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille, welcomed the development as a “boost to the city’s reputation as a leading international destination for business and leisure and a driver of economic growth”. “I hope it will spur on other international airlines to grow their Cape Town services,” she said.
Western Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC, Alan Winde, said said BA’s capacity increase pointed to strong consumer confidence in the destination, which last year received 181 886 visitors from the UK.  He said the new services would help address Cape Town’s seasonality. “Direct flights do matter for economy and ease of access and these direct flights will make a big difference to our economy,” he said.
Wesgro CEO, Nils Flaatten, also welcomed the announcement. “Business and leisure travellers from the US are using London as a connecting flight into Cape Town and it is to British Airways’ credit that it has answered the need for a year-round service to the destination. Wesgro and British Airways will continue to explore marketing options that will ensure that the demand for this new airlift capacity remains.”