South Africas inbound tourism industry has warmly welcomed the introduction of expanded Airbus A380 services to South Africa from major international airlines, which are expected to boost the recovery of arrivals from key source markets.
Launched at the end of September, Qantas new A380 service from Perth to Johannesburg will expand passenger capacity between the two cities by 130000 seats per year, almost doubling total capacity to 280000 seats. This follows Emirates September 1 relaunch of its second daily A380 service between Dubai and Johannesburg.
British Airways, meanwhile, has announced the A380 will be flown on both of the airlines double-daily London to Johannesburg flights from June 2025, increasing existing capacity on the route by 30.
Direct flights from the UK and Australia including the newly introduced A380 services are crucial for driving South Africas tourism growth and economic upliftment, SATSA CEO David Frost told Tourism Update .
Frost said the expanded capacity would have a role to play in recovering arrivals from both markets, which are lagging notably behind 2019 levels.
