With the start of the southern hemisphere summer season at the end of October, and to meet the rising demand for end of the year holidays, Qatar Airways has said that their summer capacity for South Africa will help unlock tourism potential in the country.
In a press statement, Qatar Airways says that it will operate 11 flights a week to Cape Town, rising to 12 between December 17 and January 13, 2025. The airline adds that its services to Johannesburg have risen to 18 per week from October for the season, while Durban will also be served five times a week via Mozambique.
According to the airline, January 2025 will mark 20 years since Qatar Airways started flying to South Africa, with the launch of the airline’s Cape Town and Johannesburg routes in 2005.
Thierry Antinori, Chief Commercial Officer, Qatar Airways, says that South Africa is a popular tourism destination and a vital part of the airline’s business across the African continent. “As we look ahead to 2025, and celebrating two decades of connecting the country to the rest of the world, these services will offer greater choice for people wanting to visit this beautiful country during the summer months,” says Antinori.
The airline says that its summer flying programme in South Africa comes on the back of previously announced commitments to the African continent by Qatar Airways. These include the recently announced acquisition of a 25 pc share in South Africa’s premium independent carrier, Airlink.
Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, Group Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways says that the airline’s investment in Airlink further demonstrated how integral it sees Africa being to its business. “This partnership not only demonstrates our confidence in Airlink, as a company that is resilient, agile, financially robust and governed on sound principles, but also in Africa as a whole, showing huge potential that I am delighted we are able to help start realising,” says Al-Meer.
In June, the airline also began services to Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of Congo, simultaneously increasing flights to Angola from one to four a week.