Dubai: Dubai’s flagship airline, Emirates, announced Monday that it has boosted connectivity to South Africa with the addition of a fourth daily flight to Johannesburg from its home base in Dubai.
This follows the recent announcement of the second daily A380 between Dubai and Johannesburg, which launched on September 1.
The airline confirmed in a statement that the fourth daily service will begin on March 1, 2025, and will be operated on a three-class Boeing 777-300ER. It will offer an additional 708 seats in and out of South Africa’s largest and busiest international airport every day.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer said, “South Africa has long been a highly popular destination for both leisure and business travellers connecting to and through Dubai, and the fourth daily flight enables us to better serve the growing demand for travel to and from the market.”
The extended service reinstates Emirates' capacity, which It offered to South Africa pre-pandemic: 49 weekly flights across three gateways.
“As we reflect on nearly three decades of operations to the market, we remain committed to driving inbound travel to South Africa, supporting the government as they aim to make tourism the leading economic contributor and vehicle for transformation, as well as encouraging more inwards investment to the country,” said Kazim.
Airline passengers can take advantage of the expanded Emirates schedule to Johannesburg and reach 60 regional points in Africa via codeshare and interline agreements with four partners. Emirates and South African Airways first established a codeshare arrangement in 1997, and it remains one of the oldest partnerships in the airline’s history, enabling frictionless, single-ticket travel to and from all three South African gateways, including 12 destinations via Johannesburg.
In addition to enhancing passenger travel, the new flight increases cargo capacity in and out of South Africa, offering 300 tonnes weekly via the belly of the Boeing 777.
The airline said that in the last 29 years, since the inaugural flight to Johannesburg in June 1995, Emirates has established itself as a long-term partner of South African aviation, tourism, and trade.
Since then, the airline has scaled operations, increased frequencies and gateways to Cape Town and Durban and served over 20 million passengers to and from the market. In October 2011, Emirates first deployed its flagship A380 to Johannesburg, bringing the airline’s world-class products and services to South Africa, and now offers two daily flights from Johannesburg on the iconic double-decker aircraft.
