Emirates is cranking up its South Africa services and, by March 1, 2023, the airline will be conducting no fewer than 42 services a week to South Africa.

A media release emphasises the airline’s ongoing commitment to support South Africa’s economic and tourism recovery through enhanced connectivity across all its gateways. And the carrier says this reaffirms South Africa’s strategic importance on its network, as it prioritises service expansion and rebuilding its capacity to unlock further growth potential.

Johannesburg – the schedule will be increased to three daily flights from March 1, 2023. 
Flight EK 767 from Dubai to Johannesburg will operate using a B777, complementing the carrier’s existing double-daily A380 operation. The new flight will depart Dubai at 23h25, arriving in Johannesburg at 05h35 the next day. The return flight will depart Johannesburg at 22h20 and arrive in Dubai at 08h20 the next morning. 

The airline says the third daily flight from Johannesburg will help meet high demand – it will offer more than 300 seats in each direction and offer additional flexibility for South African travellers with a new evening departure for easier connectivity to Europe, the Americas, west Asia and the Far East via Dubai.  

Cape Town will be served with double-daily services starting from February 1, 2023. Emirates’ second daily service to Cape Town will depart Dubai at 09h10, landing in the Mother City at 16h45. It departs Cape Town at 13h25, arriving in Dubai at 01h10 the next day. 

The double-daily service to Cape Town brings EK back to its pre-pandemic schedule, supporting Cape Town’s tourism industry during peak season arrivals by providing convenient connectivity from key source markets such as Europe, the Middle East, West Asia and Australasia. 

Emirates and SA Tourism signed an MOU earlier this year to jointly promote tourism and boost visitor arrivals to South Africa across the airline’s network of over 130 passenger destinations.

Durban will get two more flights a week, making it a daily operation, starting from December 1 this year. The flight will depart Dubai at 10h35 daily and arrive in Durban at 17h05. The flight departs Durban at 19h10, arriving in Dubai at 05h30.

The additional services to all three gateways will also benefit customers by providing more connecting choices to an array of domestic and regional cities across Southern Africa via Emirates’ codeshare and interline partners, including SAA, Airlink, FlySafair and CemAir. These unique connections and onward travel options are not offered by any other airline, says Emirates.

Emirates’ premium experience for its customers on South African routes offers a local selection of South African wines including Ken Forrester, Porseleinberg, Klein Constantia, Waterkloof, Boekenhoutskloof, amongst others. Customers should also look forward to dining on authentic, proudly South African dishes and flavours with an array of local cheeses and Rooibos-inspired cuisine. 

Emirates has been serving South Africa for 27 years.