Virgin Atlantic has reintroduced its Cape Town-London Heathrow route – adding over 80 000 seats between the two cities – with the seasonal service launching October 25.
The seasonal daily service will complement the existing daily A350 service flying betweeen Johannesburg and London Heathrow.
VS478 will operate as a night flight departing Heathrow at 16h20 arriving in Cape Town at 05h55. Return flight VS479 will depart at 08h00 landing later that day at 18h00.
The Cape Town flights will be operated with Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and the new services will go on sale from February 18.
Head of Africa, Middle East and India, of Virgin Atlantic, Liezl Gericke, commented: “The daily service will not only enhance a vital link between Cape Town and the UK’s capital, but it also provides seamless connections via Heathrow to Europe and North America.”
Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane welcomed the new seasonal flights, highlighting that, presented with the many choices of holiday destinations, travellers were more inclined to choose destinations with ease of access, especially air access.
“The United Kingdom is one of our key tourist source markets and we believe that an additional direct flight from this market will hugely contribute toward us reaching our goal of 21 million tourists by 2030,” she said.