Summary United Airlines operates to top destinations in South Africa from Newark and Washington, with long-haul flights lasting over 14 hours. In addition to South Africa, United connects the US to Ghana and Nigeria, English-speaking countries with large populations. United Airlines will expand flights to Africa by adding routes to Morocco's Marakesh later this year to compete with rivals Delta Air Lines.
United Airlines operates flights to all six inhabited continents, including five flights to the African continent. Africa is a massive continent (the second largest in the world with the second-highest population) and is made up of around 56 countries. United is planning to operate a record six routes to Africa by the end of the year.
According to Cirium , an aviation analytics company, these are United's five African flights scheduled for the month of August . South Africa-bound flights All five of United's Africa-bound flights depart from New York's Newark International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia. Three of United's five African flights fly to South Africa.
South Africa is the top tourist destination in Sub-Saharan Africa and the favorite destination for safaris (although Kenya and Tanzania are also very popular). United operates two South African flights from Newark to Capetown and Johannesburg. The Newark-Capetown route is served by a Boeing 777 and is scheduled to have 13 flights in August, carrying 3,588 seats.
The Newark-Johannesburg route is the busiest United flight, with 31 scheduled flights for August and 7,967 seats. Those taking the flight need to strap in for a scheduled 14-hour and 55-minute long-haul flight. United's third flight to South Africa departs Washington Dulles to Capetown using a Boeing 777.
According to Cirium, it is scheduled to have 14 flights in August and 14 flights. The scheduled flight time is 14 hours and 50 minutes. United has previously noted that passengers want to be able to fly to Capetown year-round .
Passenger traffic in Africa has returned to pre-pandemic levels for Delta. West Africa-bound flights Besides South Africa, United Airlines connects the US only with two other countries in Africa—Ghana and Nigeria (both in the West African region). These are both English-speaking countries with large populations (Ghana is home to over 33 million, while Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa at 218 million).
These flights depart from Washington Dulles with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. The United flights to Ghana's Kotoka International Airport serve Accra (the capital of Ghana). Thirteen flights, with 3,159 seats, are scheduled for August.
United's Nigeria flight is scheduled for 14 flights in August to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, which serves Lagos (one of the world's largest cities with a greater city population of around 21 million). It is not clear why United only flies to Sub-Saharan African countries and not to noted North African countries like Morocco and Egypt. However, this is about to change, as United has announced it will operate flights to Morocco's Marakesh later this year (easyJet also operates flights to Morocco).
United Airlines' rival Delta Air Lines also flies to South Africa's Johannesburg and Capetown, as well as Ghana and Nigeria (this is a far cry from Delta's massive planned African expansion in 2008 )..
