Emirates to expand operations to South Africa to 28 weekly flights

Emirates announced an expansion of its operations in and out of South Africa, boosting its schedule to 28 weekly flights from October. This is the airline's largest weekly schedule to South Africa since the start of the pandemic, which aims to bring more competitive choices for customers wishing to visit Dubai, and through Dubai to the airline's network of over 120 global destinations.

The ramp up of operations will see double daily flights to Johannesburg, including the introduction of Emirates' iconic A380 on one of the daily flights, in addition to daily services to both Cape Town and Durban. The new frequencies and capacity increases across all of the airline's gateways in South Africa are effective from 31 October 2021. From 1st January 2022, Emirates will serve Johannesburg with double daily A380 services.

Emirates' flight schedule expansion comes in response to a surge in customer demand to Dubai as tourist visas have opened up for all nationalities, in addition to the easing of restrictions across some destinations that now allow quarantine-free entry for South Africans. Emirates is also firmly committed to supporting the recovery of South Africa's tourism industry through facilitating enhanced connectivity for international visitors into the country.

South African travelers visiting Dubai must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code issued within 48 hours of the time the sample was collected at an approved local health facility. Travelers to Dubai must also present a Rapid PCR test report with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within six hours of departure. Passengers arriving in Dubai will be required to take another COVID-19 PCR test on arrival at Dubai International airport. All passengers transiting in Dubai must complete all the requirements of their final destination.

With South African Airways (SAA) resuming operations on 23rd September, Emirates is set to revive its strategic partnership and cooperation with the country's flag carrier. With customer convenience top of mind, plans are underway to expand the ability to book connecting flights on both carriers within one itinerary once again.