Qatar Airways increases flight frequencies

Qatar Airways is expanding its network in South Africa by increasing its flight frequencies in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

“Cape Town will increase to seven weekly flights, Durban increases to three weekly flights, while Johannesburg increased to 18 weekly flights, offering passengers more flexible and reliable travel options,” Qatar Airways said on Wednesday.

By March 2021, Qatar Airways will operate 28 weekly flights from South Africa. The airline has applied its unrivalled knowledge of global passenger flows and booking trends to rebuild its South Africa network to 28 weekly flights across Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

“We are proud to be the leading international carrier connecting South Africa with Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the United States, offering more flexible travel options and a global network of flights that passengers, trade and business partners can rely on.

“South Africa has always been a very important market to us and we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the region by adding new routes and steadily increasing frequencies across the continent.

“As global travel recovers in 2021, we look forward to further expanding our network and offering more connections to and from Africa via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport, to our global network of over 120 destinations,” Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said.

South African Tourism CEO, Sisa Ntshona, welcomed the move by the airline.

“This certainly demonstrates to the world that South Africa has put the necessary measures in place to ensure that it is safe for travel in the Covid-19 environment.

“Air Access is important for South Africa, as we to look to recover post COVID and Qatar Airways has an extensive global network that links travellers via Doha from our source markets. As we embark on our tourism recovery strategy, having airlines such as Qatar Airways play a supporting role by increasing its capacity will go a long way in assisting us regain the international arrival numbers,” Ntshona said.

In line with the airline’s steady rebuild of its South Africa network, Qatar Airways has increased frequencies to the following destinations:

• Cape Town (increasing to seven weekly flights from 1 March)
• Durban (increased to three weekly flights from 14 February)
• Johannesburg (increased to 18 weekly flights from 26 January)