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Qatar Airways has announced the resumption of three key destinations in South Africa: Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The flights to South Africa will be operated using a mix of Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft.

Including the 19 weekly flights to South Africa, Qatar Airways offers 63 weekly flights to 17 destinations across the continent, including Accra, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Entebbe, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Lagos, Maputo, Mogadishu, Nairobi, Tunis, Windhoek and Zanzibar.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said:

“We are looking forward to resuming flights to South Africa and expanding our network in the region. We know that many passengers around the world and in South Africa have been eagerly awaiting the resumption of scheduled international flights, and we appreciate being able to reunite them with their families and loved ones. Qatar Airways worked closely with the South African government during this crisis and operated 28 special charter flights to bring home 11,500 South Africans and international travellers. “

Entry to South Africa

Since 1st October 2020, South Africa has reopened its borders to international travellers. However, the UK has been classified as a high-risk country and “travel from the UK for tourism or leisure is still currently prohibited”.

According to the UK Government,

“business travellers from the UK must gain permission to enter South Africa before they travel. Permitted travellers must have a paper copy of a negative COVID-19 test performed no more than 72 hours prior to their departure. If you do not have this you will be sent to government-appointed quarantine facilities”.

It is also worth underlining that Government guidance continues to advise against all non-essential travel to most of the world – South Africa included. There is a limited list of exempt countries, which you can read here.