T Hairy Henry
7th Jul 2003, 21:18
South African Airways (SAA) is to add two more rotations to its Cape Town-London Heathrow service this winter using the first batch of extra frequencies made available following recent bilateral talks.
The new agreement increases the number of weekly flights by both South African and UK carriers from 34 to 36 this winter. This will increase to 38 from the start of the winter 2004 season.
After securing two of the three key early morning London Heathrow slots it sought, SAA will add two rotations to its daily Cape Town service.
SAA also currently serves Johannesburg twice-daily. Despite various efforts, no other South African scheduled carrier operates flights to Heathrow – although Nationwide Airlines hopes to do so by the year-end.
UK carriers British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic, which have previously fought bitterly over the much sought-after route rights to Cape Town, were seeking the opening up of more routes to South African in the latest bilateral revision.
BA currently serves the city with a daily flight, while Virgin Atlantic serves Cape Town twice-weekly during the winter season. The additional UK carrier route rights are still to be designated, though the last time two additional slots were made available the award was split between Virgin and BA.
The new agreement increases the number of weekly flights by both South African and UK carriers from 34 to 36 this winter. This will increase to 38 from the start of the winter 2004 season.
After securing two of the three key early morning London Heathrow slots it sought, SAA will add two rotations to its daily Cape Town service.
SAA also currently serves Johannesburg twice-daily. Despite various efforts, no other South African scheduled carrier operates flights to Heathrow – although Nationwide Airlines hopes to do so by the year-end.
UK carriers British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic, which have previously fought bitterly over the much sought-after route rights to Cape Town, were seeking the opening up of more routes to South African in the latest bilateral revision.
BA currently serves the city with a daily flight, while Virgin Atlantic serves Cape Town twice-weekly during the winter season. The additional UK carrier route rights are still to be designated, though the last time two additional slots were made available the award was split between Virgin and BA.