More A380 Superjumbos to fly to Johannesburg
A BA A380 flies past Cape Town and Table Mountain
Photo by British Airways
Frank van der Post
Photo by Duane Daws/Creamer Media
UK-based international airline British Airways (BA) formally launched the Airbus A380 Superjumbo on its London-Johannesburg route on Thursday, although regular scheduled services will start on February 12. Initially, the aircraft will operate on the route three times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays – but in March the frequency will increase to six times a week.
The BA A380s are configured to carry 469 passengers, composed of 14 in first class, 96 in business class (designated Club World by BA), 55 in premium economy (World Traveller Plus) class and 303 in economy (World Traveller) class. The rostering of the aircraft on the Johannesburg route will increase BA capacity between the UK and South Africa.
“We’re very confident that we can grow the traffic,” BA MD: brands and customer experience Frank van der Post told Engineering News Online. “When we announced the A380 for South Africa nine months ago, the extra capacity was quickly picked up by customer demand.”
The airline is starting with three flights each way a week because it currently operates only four A380s, but more will be delivered this year, allowing the planned frequency increase. By December, BA will have eight A380s in service. The airline has ordered 12, the last of which will be delivered by 2016.
The Johannesburg route is one of the earliest to be assigned the A380, after the Los Angeles and Hong Kong services. BA regards its South Africa routes (it also flies to Cape Town) as “[v]ery important. We’ve linked up with Comair here – it gives us a great distribution in South Africa”, he noted.
The acquisition of the A380 is part of BA’s strategy of acquiring more fuel-efficient aircraft. “For us, the A380 is the perfect aircraft,” he affirmed. “We fly it to our longer range destinations. We are very proud to bring it to Johannesburg.”
Air France and Lufthansa already operate A380s on routes between Europe and Johannesburg.
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