Can't say I'm too surprised, it wasn't a successful route even as a seasonal one!
Surprised about SAA not going direct though.
It was good for us freight wise as we do TV and film work and a lot go to Cape Town for filming
I discovered the sad news about the demise of the CPT route when in South Africa in January. Living in the north we already had to fly to LHR (Little Red) to pick up the Virgin LHR to CPT flight, but if we want to go to SA in the future and maybe use some miles to upgrade not only do we have to use BA (LR no more) for the shuttle from MAN to LHR we now have to accept we will be landing in Jo'burg and waiting for a connection to CPT. Three flights .
Many folks I know are now flying out of MAN with Emirates, flying via DBX to CPT. No use when wanting to use VS miles but at least that is only one changeover.
Many folks I know are now flying out of MAN with Emirates, flying via DBX to CPT. No use when wanting to use VS miles but at least that is only one changeover.
Every time I flew back from CPT the aircraft was full!
flashgordon wrote:Every time I flew back from CPT the aircraft was full!
A full aircraft isn't necessarily a profitable aircraft.
Routes such as CPT and JNB also suffer from poor fleet utilisation as the aircraft remains in South Africa all day before flying home again at night. VS may have decided to re-allocate the aircraft (and precious LHR slot) to something more productive.
Always planning a trip somewhere!
While I haven't flown the direct LHR-CPT route but often the LHR-JNB route on VS (mostly) and BA (once return), as clarkeysntfc has said , there are diminished returns in having an aircraft the size of a 747/A346/A380 on the ground for 12 hours or more. Lately Emirates encroached rapidly on the South Africa market by using destinations otherwise abandoned by long-haul carriers such as Durban(BA flew there in 1984 when I first went to South Africa), mainly because of their through the night connectivity in DXB and thus needing less time on the ground in such places as JNB, CPT and DUR.
Living in Ireland, the lure of a one-stop flight from Dublin as opposed to a 2 stop one via LHR is irresistible, especially for the non-seasoned traveller. I did it once to DUR. The first flight evinced a 10 hour layover in DXB, which because I was in J, meant I could overnight in an hotel at EK's cost. Passengers in Y were not so fortunate. EK has since offered a second flight from Dublin which tosses them out of the plane in Dubai at some unearthly hour of the morning, albeit with a lesser connecting time. However the return flight from DUR to DXB has a much shorter connecting time - and one just about within the legal limits. Readers of my TR on this a couple of years ago will remember how a delayed flight from DUR meant I missed my connection. OK, so I managed to parlay it into a routing which served me excellently (and I would not have been able to do so if it had not been for the excellence of information on such fora as V-Flyer ). Added to the problem is that for that flight, the plane lands on a remote stand. the 40 minutes it took from the plane to the terminal caused me to miss my flight. Yesterday my brother took the same flight. He caught his but when calling me this morning expressed the same surprise that it took that length of time to get from a plane to a terminal!!
Earlier this year I was happier to go on a 2 stop (and cheaper fare ORK-LHR-JNB-DUR) which left later and arrived earlier. I'm doing the same later this year.
Living in Ireland, the lure of a one-stop flight from Dublin as opposed to a 2 stop one via LHR is irresistible, especially for the non-seasoned traveller. I did it once to DUR. The first flight evinced a 10 hour layover in DXB, which because I was in J, meant I could overnight in an hotel at EK's cost. Passengers in Y were not so fortunate. EK has since offered a second flight from Dublin which tosses them out of the plane in Dubai at some unearthly hour of the morning, albeit with a lesser connecting time. However the return flight from DUR to DXB has a much shorter connecting time - and one just about within the legal limits. Readers of my TR on this a couple of years ago will remember how a delayed flight from DUR meant I missed my connection. OK, so I managed to parlay it into a routing which served me excellently (and I would not have been able to do so if it had not been for the excellence of information on such fora as V-Flyer ). Added to the problem is that for that flight, the plane lands on a remote stand. the 40 minutes it took from the plane to the terminal caused me to miss my flight. Yesterday my brother took the same flight. He caught his but when calling me this morning expressed the same surprise that it took that length of time to get from a plane to a terminal!!
Earlier this year I was happier to go on a 2 stop (and cheaper fare ORK-LHR-JNB-DUR) which left later and arrived earlier. I'm doing the same later this year.
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