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United Airlines has invested heavily in very long-haul flights in recent times as the airline has launched routes such as Houston in Sydney and San Francisco in Singapore.
The airline has just announced another very long-haul flight. This time, the company was returning to Africa (the last United flight to Africa was interrupted a few years ago between Houston and Lagos).
United plans to operate three weekly weekly flights between Newark and Cape Town from December 2019. United Airlines has so far only requested permission to operate this route, and the hope is that approval will arrive soon.
United plans to use a Boeing 787-9 for this route, with 48 seats in business class and 204 seats in economy class. Unfortunately, no 787-9 has any Polaris seats yet, so you can expect this flight to include the old business class seats.
United's current 787-9 business class
The flight would be operated according to the following schedule:
Newark to Cape Town at 8:30 pm to arrive at 18:00 (+1 day) [Wed, Fri, Sun]
Cape Town to Newark starting at 20:50 to arrive at 05h45 (+1 day) [Mon, Thu, Sat]
This flight would cover a distance of 7,817 miles, making it one of the longest flights in United.
The Vice President of United International Network stated the following regarding the route:
"We are constantly looking for ways to expand our international, industry-leading international link network to provide our customers with more convenient options. We are excited to announce the addition of Africa to our international itinerary offering. This new flight will offer customers the only non-stop service between the United States and Cape Town. "
What a fascinating route it is. While Johannesburg is the center of South Africa's business, Cape Town is the most visited area by tourists. There are tons of New Yorkers looking to go to South Africa, and I could see that this road works very well for United.
United Airlines is a partner of South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, which offer one-stop service between the United States and Cape Town on various routes. However, this is much more convenient for New Yorkers.
It's really great to see United try new long-haul flights, instead of just being cautious. Their strategy seems to work, otherwise they would not add more flights of this length.
Hoping that the flight will be approved and tickets will go on sale soon. For reference, the only other US airline serving South Africa non-stop is Delta, which operates an Atlanta-Johannesburg route all year.
What do you think of the new flight from United to Cape Town?
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