When Delta Air Lines announced plans to retire its 777-200 fleet, one unanswered question was the status of its longest flight, Atlanta to Johannesburg. But Delta has come up with a creative “triangle route” solution that puts immediate pressure on United Airlines.
Delta Will Fly Atlanta – Johannesburg – Cape Town – Atlanta Triangle Route
With the 777-200 fleet on the chopping fleet, Delta is not left with a reliable aircraft that can fly nonstop from Johannesburg to Atlanta. The 8,439 flight alone is not a problem, but strong headwinds traveling west plus the high altitude of Johannesburg make this a very difficult route on the A350-900ULR, Delta’s new (and still undelivered) longest range aircraft.
In a smart solution, Delta has announced that it will continue nonstop service to Johannesburg, but the return flight to Atlanta will make a stop in Cape Town. That allows Delta to offer service to both cities and eliminates and concerns about the return, since Cape Town to Atlanta is 8,130 miles and Cape Town is at a much lower altitude than Johannesburg.
Delta has not announced a start date for the new service, but my guess is early 2021. Wintertime in North America is summertime in South Africa, a period of typically high demand. Furthermore, Delta’s 777 retirement was not immediate, but will take by the end of 2020.
Will United’s Cape Town – Newark Service Return?
United launched Newark to Cape Town service for the first time this winter and the flight was a success. With so much uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, United has not confirmed if Cape Town service will return again (though the flight is in the schedule), but Delta’s move puts further pressure on United to make a decision.
With the future of South African Airways uncertain, United may be left as the sole nonstop operator between New York and South Africa. It would seem silly, as long as borders do re-open, not to bring this flight back.
In fact, perhaps United should consider its own triangle flight from Newark to Johannesburg to Cape Town to Newark. Whether United chooses to stick to Cape Town, serve both cities with a triangle flight, or serve both cities separately, this will be an early indication of new CEO Scott Kirby’s aggressiveness to battle Delta head-on.
CONCLSUION
Delta’s new route announcement is exciting (and a great use of Virgin Atlantic miles). We’re still waiting on more details, but expect the service to begin this winter. Now United must decide if it wants to compete head-on or cede the route to its competitor.
(H/T: Edward Russell // image: Delta)
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I think this will be very interesting. United still has the better NYC market (albeit from EWR) compared to ATL. Should lead to a combo of local and connecting passengers and also serves CPT nonstop in both directions, which is a plus for passengers. But Delta still gets to serve JNB. Also, this could be an expensive change as crew would have to fly each leg of the journey and take an overnight break in between and the disadvantage of getting to CPT after one more connection via JNB.
But to be honest, I’m not sure either route will survive that long after the pandemic…
“this a very difficult route on the A350-900ULR, Delta’s new (and still undelivered) longest range aircraft.”
Delta does not have any ULR on order
Bet you are real fun at parties.
@ORD787: Well they are going to need one or else this route aint happening…
From what I have seen internally, the plan is to use the higher MTOW versions of the A350 for this routing (and other long routes like BOM and SYD). A350 launched with 272 tons max takeoff weight, but later DL deliveries have been 280 tons. Not quite ULR, but squeezes in enough range to do CPTATL taking off from sea level and probably some seat blocks. But you’re right, ULR is a prime candidate for this route if ordered/converted into
I have reservations on United’s flight to Cape Town in January 2021, and it’s still bookable – the date classes aren’t zeroed out or anything.
Why would they need to announce if they’re planning on returning to this market?
Triangle flight sounds great until you think about the experience of those long stopover times, especially if you are connecting in Atlanta too: https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-air-lines-cape-town-flights-south-africa/
And when does the plane get cleaned for the return? Some set of passengers will have to get off and then get back on at some point. Actually, I think everyone would have to get off at both airports for cleaning, since new passengers get on at each airport and they need to get into a clean seat after some passenger just sat in it and got off.
I would certainly much rather go directly to CPT on UA and buy a connecting flight to JNB if I need it. The flights between those two cities are so frequent it would actually probably be faster than sitting on the ground 2 hours in the Delta plane (or off it while they clean it).
If SAA doesn’t start flying to the US again from JNB, I would expect to see UA start flights out of EWR, IAD, or both. They certainly have the planes available…