International airline increasing number of long-haul flights to South Africa

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is enhancing its European winter schedule and will add more flights to South Africa.

The new winter schedule, which caters to both business and leisure travellers, will run from October 27, 2024, to March 30, 2025. KLM will continue its daily services to Johannesburg and Cape Town.

That said, from December 17, 2024, until the end of the winter season, KLM will increase its capacity to Cape Town with two additional weekly flights on Tuesdays and Sundays.

On top of the current daily flights, Flight KL597/598 arrives in Cape Town at 21:30 and departs at 23:20, KLM will also introduce Flight KL595/596.

The new service will arrive at 06:10 and depart at 08:05 on Mondays and Wednesdays, starting on December 17.

“With more direct flight options from Paris and Amsterdam, travel has never been more convenient. The airlines’ complementary schedules with transatlantic partners Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic also provide travellers with even more seamless options across the Atlantic,” said KLM.

Greater airline push

KLM is not the only major airline increasing its flights to and from South Africa.

German airline Lufthansa started operating flights again between Johannesburg and Munich, Germany, earlier this month.

The new flight between Johannesburg and Munich will operate year-round, with flights scheduled every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday morning.

The route will use the Airbus A350-900, which can accommodate 293 passengers across Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class.

Lufthansa also announced that its direct flight between Cape Town and Munich will start in November 2024.

Unlike the year-round Johannesburg flight, the Cape Town flight will only be seasonal due to current demand.

However, the German airline told BusinessTech that it would increase the Cape Town and Munich connection to daily departures starting next summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Moreover, South African Airways started flying to Perth, Australia, in April of this year.

The state-owned company also plans to open new routes to Frankfurt, Munich, London, and cities on the east coast of the US by the year ending March 2028.

Norwegian airline Norse Atlantic Airways will also launch a new route in late October connecting London Gatwick Airport with Cape Town International Airport.

Norse Atlantic said that the new route aims to break the duopoly of the route, which features Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.

South African-based FlySafair also announced it would start flying between Cape Town and Windhoek, Namibia, on October 22.

”We have been wanting to break into the Windhoek market for a while, but the barrier, until now, has been aircraft availability,” said Kirby Gordon, the Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.

“Having an additional aircraft that we are basing in Cape Town is now enabling us to expand into the market with a competitive fare.”

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