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Dubai-based carrier Emirates will ramp up operations in the South African market in October, to meet a surge in demand following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in UAE.
The long-haul operator said on Wednesday that weekly flights in and out of South Africa will increase to 28, the largest weekly schedule on the route since the start of the pandemic.
Late last month, the UAE announced it will issue tourist visas to all travellers who have been fully vaccinated.
In a statement, Emirates said it has noticed a “surge” in demand from travellers who are looking to visit Dubai since the announcement.
“Emirates’ flight schedule of 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 destination that now allow quarantine-free entry for South Africans,” the airline said.
“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.”
Two flights per day
With the increased capacity and frequency, Emirates will operate double daily flights to Johannesburg and introduce its iconic A380 on one of the daily flights. The airline will also fly daily 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 October 31,” the airline said.
By January next year, the airline will operate two flights daily to Johannesburg using A380.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Daniel Luiz )
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