Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss suggests that year-round flights between Cape Town and London Heathrow could become a reality in 2027, contingent upon increased business demand and expatriate travel.
Job creation and demand from expats will underpin the decision to launch daily flights between Heathrow and Cape Town . The very first Virgin Atlantic flight was in June 1984, which flew from London’s Gatwick Airport to Newark in New York. Forty years later, the airline flies to 30 destinations worldwide.
Virgin, founded by British business magnate Sir Richard Branson, has recently resuscitated its seasonal Cape Town-to-London-Heathrow flight, which will extend until April 2025 to include the busy Easter period. The airline also has flights between London and Johannesburg. Flights are on Virgin’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Speaking to Moneyweb during a recent visit to South Africa, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss poured cold water on any hopes for a permanent, all-year-round Cape Town-Heathrow flight in the near future. Although Virgin does fly between Johannesburg and Heathrow throughout the year, demand for Cape Town-London flights (outside the holiday season) needs to pick up significantly, he says.“There’s a slight chance of year-round flights to Cape Town in 2027. But that will depend on increased demand from the business sector due to semigration to the Western Cape, or when more expats want to fly between the two cities,” adds Weiss. “More jobs, innovation, and start-ups in Cape Town will probably be the underpinning of year-round flights,” he notes. Besides reaching the milestone of 40 years in the sky, the year 2024 also marked Virgin’s 20 years of seasonal flights between Cape Town and London. Virgin has been flying between Heathrow and Johannesburg for 28 years. Weiss notes that the seasonal flights not only provide a direct connection between Cape Town and London but are also a boost for the transportation of goods between the two popular cities. Although Virgin Atlantic does not operate cargo-only flights, it transports time-sensitive agricultural products in the underbelly of its planes back to the U
AVIATION SOUTH AFRICA CAPE TOWN VIRGIN ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
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