Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has announced it will add a fourth daily flight to its services between Dubai and Johannesburg in South Africa. The announcement swiftly follows the airline’s recent announcement of a second daily Airbus A380-operated flight between the two cities which commenced operations on September 1, 2024.
The fourth daily service will begin on March 1, 2025, and will be operated by the airline’s three-class Boeing 777-300ER, offering an additional 708 seats in and out of South Africa’s largest and busiest international airport daily. EK767 will depart Dubai at 00:10 and arrive in Johannesburg at 06:20. The return flight, EK768, will depart Johannesburg at 10:15 and arrive back in Dubai at 20:15. The new service represents the first morning departure from Johannesburg offered by the carrier.
The addition of a fourth daily flight further “supports connectivity across Emirates’ global network of over 140 destinations, optimizing schedules to key destinations including Dubai, Thailand, and India as well as European hotspots such as UK, France, the Netherlands, and Germany,” said the airline in a statement.
“South Africa has long been a highly popular destination for both leisure and business travelers connecting to and through Dubai, and the fourth daily flight enables us to better serve the growing demand for travel to and from the market,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer.
“We would like to extend our thanks to the South African authorities for their partnership and support in securing this new service, which reinstates the capacity we offered South Africa pre-pandemic, with 49 weekly flights, across three gateways. As we reflect on nearly three decades of operations in the market, we remain committed to driving inbound travel to South Africa, supporting the government as they aim to make tourism the leading economic contributor and vehicle for transformation, as well as encouraging more inwards investment to the country,” he added.
In addition to increasing passenger capacity on the key route, the commencement of the new flight increases cargo capacity in and out of South Africa, offering 300 tons via the belly of the Boeing 777, weekly. Emirates SkyCargo, the airline’s freight division, uplifts key commodities, including fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled meat, dairy, seafood, and fresh cut flowers from Johannesburg, further stimulating the economy and connecting South African businesses with global customers.
Additionally, Emirates’ customers heading to Johannesburg can reach a further 60 regional points in Africa via codeshare and interline agreements with the carrier’s interline and codeshare partners.
Emirates and South African Airways first established a codeshare arrangement back in 1997, and it remains one of the oldest partnerships in the Dubai-based carrier’s history. The partners connect via three South African gateways (Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban), including 12 destinations via Johannesburg alone. Meanwhile, Emirates’ codeshare with Airlink opens up a further 44 regional cities to its passengers.
Emirates first commenced flights to South Africa in June 1995 and now flies 20 million passengers annually between the country and Dubai.