United Airlines has applied to the US Transportation Department (DOT) to launch a second route to Cape Town (CPT) alongside its existing service from Newark (ERW).
The Chicago-based carrier wants to connect the South African city with Washington Dulles (IAD) three times per week from Nov. 17. Flights would operate year-round using Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
However, the airline is set to compete with Delta Air Lines for the frequencies, given that under the current air services agreement between the US and South Africa there are only four unused weekly flights available to US carriers.
Delta is hoping to take three of them for a service between Atlanta (ATL) and Cape Town. The SkyTeam alliance member applied to the DOT in February for the rights to operate the route, which it wants to serve from Nov. 18 using Airbus A350-900s.
In a filing to the DOT, United argues that its proposal would offer “significant consumer benefits” including facilitating…
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