Virgin Atlantic will resume its London Heathrow to Johannesburg and Cape Town routes on October 18 and December 10 respectively.
The airline initially plans to resume four flights a week between Johannesburg and Heathrow. By the end of the year the airline hopes to operate daily flights between the two destinations.
The Cape Town flight details are yet to be announced. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays the airline will fly from London to Johannesburg with return flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
‘We’re delighted to resume our passenger services to this beautiful country. We know many of our customers will be excited to reunite with friends and family and we are looking forward to welcoming them on board, taking to the skies safely in true Virgin Atlantic style,’ Virgin Atlantic Head of Middle East, Africa and India, Liezl Gericke according to Tourism Update.
To support customers and provide additional peace of mind, Virgin Atlantic has introduced Virgin Atlantic COVID-19 Cover, which will apply to all existing and new bookings, travelling from 24 August 2020 up until 31 March 2021.
Emergency medical costs, associated expenses such as transport and accommodation and repatriation up to £500,000 are included, as well as costs if a customer is denied boarding or held in quarantine.
The airline has included a number of protocols to ensure the health and safety of their passengers and staff:
- Disinfecting the aircraft before each flight,
- Using hospital grade, registered disinfecting product, tested to be highly effective against viruses,
- Fogging (electrostatic spraying) of high-grade disinfectant in every cabin before every flight,
- All air on board is filtered through highly effective High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters that remove dust, allergens, bacteria, viruses and other particles from cabin air (testing shows a removal efficiency of 99.999%), with vertical air flow, refreshing cabin air completely every 2-3 minutes,
- Individual Health Packs are given to all customers travelling for all customers, containing medical grade face masks, hand sanitiser and surface wipes.
To see the flight prices or to book a flight, visit Virgin Atlantic’s website here.
Image: Getaway Gallery
