United Airlines is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its non-stop flights between Cape Town and its New York hub.
This is indeed a significant milestone for the Chicago-based carrier.
“We are proud to mark the fifth anniversary of our Cape Town to New York/Newark service,” said Amit Badiani, Head of Africa and Offline Sales, United Airlines.
UNITED AIRLINES DIRECT CAPE TOWN FLIGHTS
The airline was indeed the first U.S. carrier to operate flights between Cape Town and North America.
Since 2019, United Airlines has carried over 345,000 customers and 2,000 tonnes of cargo on over 1,500 flights between Cape Town and its New York/Newark and Washington D.C. hubs.
“As the first U.S. airline to operate direct flights to Cape Town, United Airlines has catalysed tourism and trade between the Western Cape and North America,” said Wrenelle Stander, CEO of Wesgro, the provincial agency for tourism, trade, and investment promotion that powers the Cape Town Air Access catalytic project.
UNITED AIRLINES BOOSTS TOURISM TO CAPE TOWN
Since the launch of United’s Cape Town route, passenger numbers have grown phenomenally, allowing the airline to expand its services.
United launched its Cape Town to New York/Newark route in December 2019 as a summer seasonal service and subsequently expanded in 2021 to a year-round service.
“This success is underscored by the remarkable growth in passenger numbers, with North American two-way traffic increasing by 57% between 2022 and 2023, reaching nearly 450,000 passengers. We proudly congratulate United on the 5th anniversary of the Newark-Cape Town route, a milestone achieved through the dedication of both the Cape Town Air Access and United Airlines International Network teams. We also thank our Cape Town Air Access partners, including the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, Airports Company South Africa, South African Tourism, Cape Town Tourism, and our private sector partners, V&A Waterfront, DHL and Investec, for their ongoing support for this impactful initiative.” Stander said.
EXPANDING INTO SOUTH AFRICA
United further expanded its South Africa route network by introducing year-round flights from Johannesburg to New York/Newark in 2021 and year-round flights between Cape Town and Washington D.C. in 2022.
In addition to the three-times-weekly nonstop service from Cape Town to New York/Newark, United offers customers from South Africa three-times-weekly nonstop flights from Cape Town to Washington D.C. and daily nonstop flights from Johannesburg to New York/Newark.
Flights are conveniently timed to connect at United’s hubs – with an extensive network of services to destinations throughout the Americas.
GROWING ITS AFRICAN NETWORK
In addition to Cape Town and Johannesburg, United flies to Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria.
It recently added Marrakesh, Morocco to its expanding network of African destinations.
From May 2025, United will also operate services to Dakar, Senegal.
