British trade publication TTG has reported that Virgin Atlantic is considering a year-round Cape Town service from 2024, but Virgin’s South Africa office was unwilling to confirm or deny that this was on the cards.

The publication reported that Chief Commercial Officer Juha Jarvinen said that the seasonal service “could be” extended and Virgin was seriously considering a continuous service throughout the year.

Virgin Atlantic restarted its Cape Town route in November 2022 on a seasonal basis.

Speaking in Cape Town, Jarvinen told TTG that demand on the London-Cape Town route had exceeded expectations, with 82% load factors in November and December and figures in the 70%-plus bracket for January.

Virgin’s high-season flights are scheduled to end on March 25. 

Jarvinen is quoted saying: “We will restart in late October 23 for winter but we will definitely explore spring/summer 2024 to see if there’s an opportunity to extend the season.”

He told TTG there were multiple factors behind renewed demand for the route. “What is interesting here is not only the leisure demand to and from the UK in the summertime, but also the fact that many companies are relocating to Cape Town from places like Johannesburg, making it more of a commercial city – not just a tourist destination – and we believe there will be more business travel.

“We launched the service for leisure, of course, but we will see how the trend evolves. To be relevant to the corporate traveller, you need to be operating year-round, so that gives us the chance to explore different options,” he said.

Darrin Thomas, Virgin’s Manager, International Marketing and Communications, told Tourism Update that the report was accurate, but no further information was available.

Virgin will join the SkyTeam alliance in March.