New long-haul international flight on the cards for South Africa next year
Australian national carrier Qantas plans to relaunch flights from Johannesburg to Perth in mid-2025.
The airline said that the new route is subject to meeting border agency requirements in Western Australia.
The new route would compete with South African Airways (SAA), which launched a route between Johannesburg and Perth in April this year.
The Australian airline also announced that it will start operating an Airbus 380 flight from Johannesburg to Sydney, which will be the first time that the national carrier has operated a Superjumbo from Africa.
The A380 will fly up to six times per week and see a near-doubling of capacity, with an extra 130,000 seats between South Africa and Australia annually.
The Qantas A380 has capacity for 485 passengers across four cabins, with the introduction of the
Superjumbo seeing First Class on the route for the first time since 2018.
Qantas First has 14 individual suits arranged in an exclusive 1-1-1 configuration and convert into a 212-centimetre bed.
The upguage will also exceed the number of Premium Economy seats available between the cities.
The mega aircraft also features an upper deck lounge for passengers in First and Business class, with booth-style seating for ten people, a self-service bar, and the option to order signature drinks and snacks.
The A380 flights have full passenger loads in both directions. The flights are also timed to connect in both directions with Qantas’s New Zealand services.
The A380 flight crosses the southern Indian Ocean, and on a clear day, customers can often see Antarctica when flying a southerly route.
Flights from Johannesburg to Sydney will last 11 hours and 55 minutes, while flights from Sydney to Johannesburg will last 14 hours and 40 minutes.
Return fares from Johannesburg to Sydney are available from R19,560.
Qantas also announced a new codeshare partnership with Airlink, which expands its inbound network in South Africa.
“Qantas will add the QF code on Airlink’s domestic network, enabling seamless connectivity between Qantas flights to Johannesburg and nine South African destinations,” said the Australian airline.
“The carrier hopes to add additional Airlink destinations in nearby southern African countries over the coming months, pending regulatory approval.”
International flights taking off
Qantas is not the only airline increasing its flights to and from South Africa.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it will enhance its European winter schedule and add two additional routes to Cape Town from 17 December 2024 to March 30, 2025.
German airline Lufthansa also 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.
Lufthansa also said that its direct flight between Cape Town and Munich will start in November 2024. However, it will only operate seasonally in the summer of Southern Hemisphere.
Lufthansa told BusinessTech that it would increase the Cape Town and Munich connection to daily departures starting next summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
Looking ahead, Norwegian low-cost airline Norse Atlantic Airways will also launch a new route connecting London Gatwick Airport with Cape Town International Airport in late October 28.
Norse Atlantic said the new route aims to break the duopoly (Virgin Atlantic and British Airways) of the Cape Town and London route.
Looking at local airlines, 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. Still, 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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