Coming soon: Flights between SA and this US city
Flights between South Africa and another city in the USA are set to begin in the first quarter of next year.
United Airlines has announced its intention to start up flights between Johannesburg and Chicago in the United States next year.
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USA FLIGHTS
View from the Wing reports that United Airlines will start flying from Chicago to Johannesburg in 2024.
Flights between Chicago’s O’Hare International and Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International are scheduled to begin next March.
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GOOD NEWS FOR SA
The launch of these flights is good news for SA. The country is increasingly looking to the USA as a key source country for tourists.
United Airlines currently flies from New York to both Johannesburg and Cape Town. It also offers flights between Washington and Cape Town.
United’s New York – Johannesburg flights are the airline’s second-longest route.
RECORD FLIGHT DISTANCE
The distance between Chicago and Johannesburg is 8 708 miles (14 015km). This is an extremely long distance but not the world’s longest flight.
This route would be the ninth longest flight in the world, according to distance flown. That said, it would also be the longest flight operated by any US airline.
The longest distance that United Airlines currently flies is 8 446 miles (13 592km). This is its flights between San Francisco and Singapore. The flying time for this route is sixteen and a half hours.
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PARADIGM SHIFTS IN TOURISM
World tourism has seen some major changes since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Flight bans, border closures, quarantine requirements and other pandemic-related restrictions have seriously impacted tourism industries in many countries across the globe.
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South Africa’s tourism sector has not been spared from the effects of the pandemic-related impacts. The country has seen major shifts in number of visitors coming from key tourism source countries.
TOURISM SOURCE COUNTRIES
While the UK and Germany were once among the largest tourism source countries for visitors to South Africa, this has changed.
The USA is now one of South Africa’s top tourism source countries. Thus, it would make sense for US airlines to seek out new flight routes into South Africa.
The launch of flights between Chicago and the USA will help cement the United States of America’s position as an important tourism source country for South African tourism.
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