Virgin Atlantic has announced it will resume its seasonal flights between London Heathrow and Cape Town International Airport from November 5 this year, with a daily direct service – and it hopes to transform the service to year-round flights within the coming two years.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, took the opportunity to announce the re-start of the route at an event in Cape Town on Saturday, May 21.
The airline in 2015 stopped its direct London-Cape Town flights, one of the reasons being uncertainty around South Africa’s immigration regulations. A planned re-start in February 2020 was paused due to the COVID pandemic.
Branson has voiced his hope that the flights may become year-round - his target to achieve this was 2024.
VS479 will depart London at 08h00, landing in Cape Town at 17h45.
Virgin says the Cape Town flights will be operated on the new Boeing 787-9 aircraft, offering customers Upper Class, Premium and Economy Light, Classic and Delight cabins.
It is believed the CPT – LHR flights will add capacity of 80 000 seats per year - a significant boost to the Mother City’s inbound tourism numbers.
Liezl Gericke, the airline’s Head of Africa, Middle East and India said: “We have been committed to this route since we first announced it back in February 2020 and I am thrilled that it is finally taking to the skies!
“This service will make it even easier for our customers to travel for business and leisure between South Africa and the United Kingdom as well providing seamless connections via Heathrow to Europe and North America.”
Wesgro CEO and Official Spokesperson for Cape Town Air Access Wrenelle Stander said:“The UK has traditionally been the largest air passenger market for the Western Cape with a compounded annual growth rate of 5% per year recorded between 2015 and 2019. The UK was the third largest export market for the Western Cape in 2021, and for the first two months of 2022, the UK took its position as the top passenger market for the province. We have no doubt that having additional capacity between Cape Town and London-Heathrow over our summer months will prove very fruitful for our destination.”
