Delta Air Lines and United Airlines spent the past five months bickering over a scarce resource: access to fly from the US to Cape Town South Africa. The US DOT managed to negotiate a solution where both come away winners.
South Africa
Delta plans Cape Town service, again
Delta Air Lines is, once again, angling to add Cape Town, South Africa to its route map. The carrier applied to the US Department of Transportation to fly the route 3x weekly from Atlanta on a year-round basis beginning 18 November 2022.
South Africa rejects Delta’s Cape Town plans
News broke late last week that Delta Air Lines no longer plans to include Cape Town in its plans for service to South Africa. Now we know a key reason: the South African government denied the airline’s application
United announces new long-haul routes for 2021
Airline route networks must adapt to shifting demand and long-haul operations are no exception. United Airlines is the latest player to make a move on that front, announcing seven routes today with service slated to launch between December and Summer 2021. The carrier will be reopening some destinations, expanding others and inaugurating a couple of markets never before served.
