United Airlines to launch nonstop flight between Washington DC and Cape Town

United Airlines has announced that it will launch nonstop flight between Washington DX and Cape Town this November.

Starting 17th November 2022, United Airlines will operate 3-flights-a-week between Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport and Cape Town International Airport with the following schedule:

• Washington DC-Cape Town
• Departure time: 18:40
• Arrival time: 16:10 (the next day)
• Flight time: 14 hours and 30 minutes
• Flight number: UA2222
• Frequency: Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays

• Cape Town-Washington DC
• Departure time: 20:50
• Arrival time: 05:50 (the next day)
• Flight time: 16 hours
• Flight number: UA2223
• Frequency: Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays

These flights will be operated by Boeing B787-9 Dreamliners featuring 48 lie-flat Polaris Business Class seats, 21 United Premium Plus seats (Premium Economy seats) and 188 standard Economy Class seats including extra-legroom Economy Class seats.

This route will complement United’s Newark-Cape Town route. The Chicago-based airline started seasonal service from Newark to Cape Town in 2019 and expanded to year-round service in 2022. The carrier adds that it has more flights to South Africa than any other North American airline.

Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances, United, said:

We are thrilled to further expand our Africaoffering with this first-ever direct link between Washington DC and Cape Town. These new flights build upon our existing year-round New York/Newark to Cape Town service – together they’ll provide a near-daily pattern from the U.S. to Cape Town along with connectivity to the broader region through our Airlink partnership.

Stay up to date: Sign up for my newsletter to never miss latest Aviation and Travel news.

United will soon offer a total of 19-weekly flights to Africa – in addition to these new flights. In 2021, the airline launched nonstop flights from Newark to Johannesburg and Washington DC to Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria in 2021.

United states that Washington DC to Cape Town was the largest route between the United States and Cape Town without nonstop service, and Washington DC is also home to the fifth largest South-African-born population. United’s new flights will connect Cape Town to 55 cities in the US, representing more than 92% of the US travel demand. The new flights will also allow passengers to connect in Cape Town to other points in South Africa, and to other countries in the southern region of the African continent with United’s South African based partner Airlink and their Cape Town hub.

Meanwhile, United recently announced the addition of Brisbane to its network with 3-weekly nonstop flights from San Francisco beginning late October 2022.

Featured image by United

What do you think of United launching a nonstop flight between Washington DC and Cape Town? Let me know in the comments section below.

Follow IH Aviation and Travel on Social Media on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.