Major US carrier United Airlines has been granted official US permission to operate three direct flights a week between the US capital, Washington DC, and Cape Town in South Africa. Provided that the South African government agrees, the new route will start operating on November 17 this year.

“We are thrilled to further expand our Africa offering with this first-ever direct link between Washington DC and Cape Town,” affirmed United Airlines senior VP: global network planning and alliances Patrick Quayle. “These new flights build upon our existing year-round New York/Newark to Cape Town service – together they’ll provide a near-daily pattern from the US to Cape Town along with connectivity to the broader region through our Airlink partnership.”

Prior to the authorisation of the new flights between the American capital and the South African legislative capital, the route between Washington DC and Cape Town was the biggest between the US and South Africa without a direct connection. Among US cities, Washington DC hosts the fifth largest South African-born population.

United will operate this new route using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. These will be configured with 48 lie-flat business class seats, 21 ‘Premium Plus’ seats and 188 economy class seats.

Travellers from Cape Town will be able to access 55 US cities via Washington DC. United originally operated a seasonal service between Cape Town and New York/Newark, which started in 2019. Earlier this year, this was upgraded to an all-year-round service.

United also operates a direct service between New York/Newark and Johannesburg. The airline now operates more flights between the US and South Africa than any other North American carrier. It also operates direct flights between Washington DC and Accra in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria, both these routes being instituted last year. With the institution of the new direct flights between the US capital and Cape Town, the airline will be operating 19 flights a week between the US and Africa.