A United Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Photo by: United Airlines
Major US carrier United Airlines has announced that it will expand its current seasonal direct service between New York and Cape Town to a year-round service. Provided it receives government approval, it will offer three flights a week between the two cities, starting in early June. The airline is the only US carrier to operate direct flights between the US and Cape Town.
The new schedule will begin on June 5 with a flight from United’s hub at Newark/New York international airport, to Cape Town International Airport. The first flight from Cape Town to Newark under the new schedule will take off on June 7. (Although it is one of the airports serving New York City, Newark International Airport is actually located in the adjacent State of New Jersey; it is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.) Because Newark is United’s hub, passengers from South Africa can use it to connect to more than 85 US cities, on the United route network. These include Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington DC.
“By introducing more flights from Cape Town to our New York/Newark hub in 2022, we are offering our customers in South Africa greater choice with this direct flight to the US,” highlighted United Regional Director Sales Bob Schumacher. “This enhancement underpins United’s footprint in Africa and our ongoing commitment to our South African services.”
“This announcement provides much-needed relief to the tourism and hospitality sector in the Western Cape and will support economic recovery in the province,” affirmed Western Cape tourism, trade and investment promotion agency Wesgro CEO Wrenelle Stander. “We welcome the news of this expansion and thank United Airlines for their commitment to serving this world-class tourism destination.”
The flights from Cape Town to Newark will be coded UA1123. For the first few days (June 7 to June 11) they will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. From June 13, they will be operated on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, using an unchanged flight code. The flights from Newark to Cape Town will be coded UA1122 and will be take place on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The service will be operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
United started direct flights between Newark and Cape Town in December 2019, operating them seasonally, during the South African summer and the North American winter. Even so, the airline has stated that Cape Town quickly became one of its flagship routes. This success, to an African destination, encouraged the carrier to launch a service between Washington Dc and Accra, Ghana, in May 2021. This was followed by the inauguration of direct Newark-Johannesburg flights in June last year and Washington DC-Lagos, Nigeria, flights in last November.