Air China will commence direct flights into South Africa from March as part of the strengthening of its codeshare agreement with South African Airways, an inside source has told Tourism Update. 
DoT deputy director: licensing and permits, Andries Ntjane, also confirmed that Air China had made a request for designation to operate on the route to South Africa. He explained that since Air China was a licensed operator, there shouldn’t be any major hurdles. “It’s just a formality,” he added. 
Air China will operate direct flights to Johannesburg from Beijing with a 45-minute layover before continuing on to Cape Town, the source said. The introduction of direct flights coincides with 2015 being the ‘Year of China’ in South Africa. “The final detail is happening this month for operations in March,” the source confirmed.
Caro Malherbe and Dorine Reinstein