Passengers  using South African Airways (SAA) to fly from Cape Town to London will, from August 15, have to stop at OR Tambo International first. The airline has decided to stop direct flights as a result of declining passenger numbers to the UK. OR Tambo will also be used for passengers flying from London to Cape Town.SAA Cargo will also move air freight using the same route, but this will not affect export times of products that need to go to the UK.

“SAA is redeploying its capacity to routes experiencing expanding demand, as part of our larger strategy for growth and increased efficiency within the airline,” said Theunis Potgieter, general manager.

Declining passenger numbers to the UK and increasing airport taxes in that country were also among the reasons for SAA ending its 20-year Cape Town-London service.

SAA has two daily flights from Joburg to London and will increase capacity on these flights by 13% to accommodate the Cape Town passengers, which will require larger aircrafts.

Potgieter said SAA offered up to 44 daily flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg.

“For South African travellers to European destinations outside London, travel via Johannesburg and Frankfurt or Munich offers significant convenience and cost advantages,” he said.

“Anyone who has booked a flight between Cape Town and London for after August 15 will be rerouted via Johannesburg at no additional charge, ”Potgieter said, adding that passengers who chose not to be rerouted would receive a refund.

“Statistics made available by Visit Britain indicate that South Africa is among the top five fastest-declining visitor markets to the UK. With declining numbers of passengers using the Cape Town-London flight for onward connections in Europe or North America, the route does not serve any of SAA’s network objectives,” he said. “A thorough analysis of the route made it clear that we could use our aircraft more profitably.”