- Etihad Airways closed its South African offices in November and operated its last commercial flight to the country in March 2020.
- After a year-long absence, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier has announced that it will start flying to Johannesburg and Cape Town on 25 November.
- The airline will operate three flights a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
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Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways will return to South Africa in late-November, a year after it closed its Johannesburg offices and announced the suspension of flights between the two countries.
Travel connections between the Middle East and South Africa are slowly reopening in the wake of fierce coronavirus-induced restrictions. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) dropping their bans on fully vaccinated South African travellers are some of the most recent examples of this reopening.
And as global travel catches a glimmer of hope, dormant flight paths are reawakening, with embattled airlines rearing to capitalise on a post-lockdown passenger boom.
Some airlines have fared better than others. Within the context of connections between the Middle East and South Africa, Qatar Airways has been the most resilient, operating daily flights between Doha and Johannesburg’s O.R. International Airport throughout the year.
Dubai-based Emirates has been less active, with its South African flight path suspended from January to September, due to the UAE’s strict travel ban.
Having announced the closure of its South African offices in November 2020 – a month before the Beta variant led to major international travel restrictions – Etihad Airways has been the most inactive major Middle Eastern carrier. The last time Etihad operated a commercial flight to South Africa was in March 2020.
Etihad had originally aimed to return to South Africa in March 2021, but extended travel restrictions driven by…