Virgin Atlantic today announced they would relaunch a route – this time adding Cape Town, South Africa as a direct option from London Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 coming in to land at London Heathrow – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
The airline will return to Cape Town after an absence of some years, starting up their new service from 25th October 2020.
Planned operation is as follows:
VS478 DEPART LHR 16:00 ARRIVE CPT 05:55+1 VS479 DEPART CPT 08:00 ARRIVE LHR 18:00 Commences: 25th October 2020 Operates Daily Booked Equipment: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Lead-in prices for an Economy Return ticket will start at £713. Tickets for the route go on sale on the 18th February.
Virgin Atlantic currently serves Johannesburg – thus this new service will dovetail nicely, extending the airlines reach in South Africa.
In quotes
Virgin Atlantic Chief Commercial Officer Juha Jarvinen stated
“2020 is an extremely exciting year of continued growth for Virgin Atlantic,”
“We’re delighted to be flying to Cape Town again, and we’re expecting a high proportion of leisure travellers on this route, taking advantage of the winter sun, the safaris and of course, the world-famous wine region.”
Welcome back to Cape Town Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic last served Cape Town in 2015 – when the route was axed during the last network review. Currently, only British Airways serves the destination directly. Of course, there are multiple indirect routes (via Europe or the Middle East) – however, as Cape Town near the time-zones as London, there will be little chance of suffering jetlag on this route.
Whilst the timings aren’t too business-friendly on the return leg (with in-effect, a whole day out of the office), for leisure travellers, it should provide a relaxing journey between the United Kingdom and South Africa.
And for passengers – a little bit of competition might be good on the wallet too.
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