[AMcWhirter]

I know that some of you regularly travel between Europe and Cape Town but the number of options is limited. So I thought you would like to be informed of a new air link starting in 2018.

Austrian Airlines says it will fly Vienna-Cape Town twice weekly with a three-class B777-200ER from October 27 next year.

http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/austrian-airlines-confirms-tokyo-cape-town-comeback

[bluemooner]

Curious why no European airline (other than Turkish via Joburg) wants to fly direct to Durban. Commercially it is the 2nd largest city of S Africa and has an ultra modern airport. Also has a superb coastline with good facilities.
ME airlines Emirates and Qatar also fly direct, but that adds hours to the flying time.
And changing in Joburg adds at least 3 hours transit time to an already long trip.

[capetonianm]

I used to use Austrian years ago from JNB. Great news as they are a superb airline and VIE is a good stopover option.

[openfly]

Thomas Cook high season operation three times a week LGW-CPT is impressive for the price. Used it ex CPT on the Monday daylight, faultless. I don’t do economy if I can avoid it but this was impressive. Ok…you have to pay for the bar, but you get a meal, a snack and a Magnum! Comfy seats and excellent legroom. £270 single in high season…unbeatable value. Booked again for next year. Premium economy is available at £570, not quite such good value.

[LuganoPirate]

Thanks for the heads up Alex. This is a service I’d definitely try and I only wish they were starting this year rather than late 2018.

Another great alternative is Edelweiss ex Zurich. It is seasonal but the business class is superb, the staff are very friendly and fares quite competitive. If you’re booking ex LHR or MXP you need to do it through the Swiss website.

[LuganoPirate]

Sorry to late to edit, but I should add that for those who like day flights Edelweiss have one of their three flights a week returning from CPT during the day. A 9 am departure I think.

https://www.flyedelweiss.com/en/pages/home.aspx

Whoops, just seen day flights are gone, now only 2 flights a week and both night flights in each direction. Shame as I wonder why they reduce the frequency when Lufthansa’s flights to CPT are always full and often wait-listed, as is KLM.

[AMcWhirter]

bluemooner – Re Durban. I’m sure BA used to fly there some years ago.

Today I see there will be one less option as ET (with connex from Europe) is closing its Addis-Durban route this month.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/273742/ethiopian-ends-durban-service-in-late-july-2017/

[bluemooner]

AMcWhirter – I travelled on the flight. It stopped at Harare. I remember once thinking I would get off, go in the terminal and stretch my legs. As I walked down the aircraft steps there were armed soldiers on the terminal building roof. I turned straight around and back into the aircraft!
As an ex pat in those days, I used to drive past the old Durban airport on the way to see clients. It was somehow comforting to know that there was a British Aircraft to take bring me home at a moments notice.

[capetonianm]

BA had a service into DUR I would guess in about 1982 which was a continuation of a LHR JNB service twice a week.

[Reeferman]

According to “My Flightpath” it appears I flew London to Durban in May 1993. It was on BA057 – probably via JNB, but I can’t recall for sure.

[bluemooner]

The Durban flights were definitely via Harare and not via Joburg, I was a passenger on it.

[Reeferman]

I can’t speak for any service via Harare as I’ve never been there – so will take your word for it. However, as capetonianm says, BA had a flight via JNB – which was also the one I took in 1993, I believe.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=818445]I can’t speak for any service via Harare as I’ve never been there – so will take your word for it. However, as capetonianm says, BA had a flight via JNB – which was also the one I took in 1993, I believe.

[/quote]

Indeed. I believe BA57 still goes to JNB now, however the hop on to DUR is via Comair these days.

[capetonianm]

I am not aware of any LON-HRE-DUR operated by BA but there was a LON-JNB-DUR and it was about 1993, not 1983 as I put in my posting earlier. I expect that some of the 747-436s that they used then are still in service, except the one that ended up adorning a building at Jan Smuts a few years ago. Some of the ones delivered in 1990 are still in service.

[capetonianm]

I came down last night on Edelweiss (C class), really an outstanding product. Excellent meal, well presented, charming cabin crew, and of course the aircraft is probably cleaner than the day it left the factory. The flatbed seats are comfortable and the controls well thought out, there’s even a ‘massage’ and a ‘mood lighting’ function.

Premium security at ZRH is ultrafast, even at the normal one I’ve rarely waited more than 5 minutes. Last night from stepping off the train to having gone through security and being airside and waiting for passport control (slow in comparison) for Gates E, was 6 minutes. I had no checked baggage.

Very early morning arrival is the only drawback (0600), meaning that by the time I’d got through the airport (very quick indeed, no customs officials in sight, and luckily I was right at the front of the queue for the two immigration officers), and got my car, I was in the thick of the melee of taxis fighting with motorists on the N2 towards town. It took me an hour to Rondebosch, as a point of reference, with no traffic you can easily do it in 15 minutes. I’d forgotten quite how thuggish and dangerous those black taxi drivers are, forcing themselves between other vehicles, pulling out from the verge at right angles to cut into other traffic, threatening anyone who won’t more over for them. The damn things should be crushed with the drivers inside.

One other silly niggle, I’d forgotten that the IFE in economy and economy max has single jack stereo headset sockets, whereas in C they lend you a Sennhauser set which has the double airline jack, presumably to stop people stealing them. I prefer to use my own sound cancelling set and without a converter could only get sound on one side. As I say, very minor.

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