Delta and United would like to fly more often to Cape Town.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have each filed applications to the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) seeking to alter their operations between the U.S. and South Africa to better match seasonal demand.
Delta is requesting approval to shift two of its existing weekly frequencies from its daily Atlanta-Johannesburg route to its Atlanta-Cape Town route during the northern winter season. If approved, this would increase Delta’s Atlanta-Cape Town service from three to five flights per week between Oct. 26, 2025, and March 28, 2026. After the peak season, the two frequencies would return to its daily Atlanta-Johannesburg schedule.
Delta says the change would allow it to meet higher demand for Cape Town during the southern hemisphere summer while maintaining overall service levels to South Africa. The airline would operate the additional Cape Town flights with its Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
United is also looking to adjust its South Africa service. The airline currently operates daily Newark-Johannesburg flights and 3X-weekly Newark-Cape Town flights. It is now requesting permission to move one of its Newark-Johannesburg flights to Cape Town year-round, increasing Newark-Cape Town to four flights per week while reducing Newark-Johannesburg to 6X-weekly flights.
In addition, United is seeking approval to operate some Newark-Johannesburg flights with a stop in Cape Town when demand and operational conditions allow. This would give the airline the option to fly a Newark–Johannesburg–Cape Town–Newark routing, similar to flexibility previously granted to Delta.
United argues the adjustments will allow it to offer more nonstop flights to Cape Town when demand is strongest, while also improving operational efficiency.
Both airlines emphasize that their proposals do not increase the total number of U.S.-South Africa flights but rather redistribute existing frequencies to better match demand. The DOT has yet to issue a decision on the requests.
United began a Newark-Johannesburg route in June 2021 and resumed Newark-Cape Town December the same year. Delta introduced its Atlanta-Cape Town service in December 2022 alongside an Atlanta-Johannesburg-Cape Town-Atlanta routing.
According to Sabre Market Intelligence data, total two-way O&D traffic between the U.S. and South Africa was about 836,400 passengers in 2024, marking a year-on-year rise of 6.8% and up by 6.9% on 2019 levels. New York-Cape Town was the largest city pair last year, followed by New York-Cape Town and Atlanta-Johannesburg.
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