• Flights

Cape Town-Singapore direct will resume Cape Town-Singapore direct will resume

Singapore Airlines’ direct non-stop flights from Cape Town to Singapore will resume on July 1.

SQ482 will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, departing from Cape Town at 12h45 and arriving in Singapore at 06h10 the next morning. The return flight operates on the same days, departing from Singapore at 01h30 and arriving in Cape Town at 10h35.

The Johannesburg-Singapore schedules will continue to operate five times a week with a slight change in the operating times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Flights from Johannesburg to Singapore on these days will be via Cape Town, however the inbound flights from Singapore to Johannesburg will be non-stop.

This means that on Tuesdays and Thursdays SQ482 will depart from Johannesburg at 08h20 and fly to Cape Town. The aircraft will then depart from Cape Town at 12h45, flying directly to Singapore where it will arrive the next morning at 06h10. Later that afternoon SQ482 will depart from Singapore at 01h30 arriving in Johannesburg at 06h10 and then flying onwards to Cape Town where it will arrive at 10h35.

Flights are open for sale in the GDS and on the Singapore Airlines website.

Last month, Singapore eased its travel restrictions, allowing all travellers with recent travel histories from South Africa to transit through the country. This meant that Singapore Airlines was once again able to accept South African passengers flying onwards to their final destination via a transit stop in Singapore.

Marketing development manager for Singapore Airlines, Sally George, said the airline had seen some uptake in bookings since the transit restrictions were eased last month. She reported that most of the bookings were for last-minute trips, due to current uncertainties around travel restrictions and added that Australia was currently its top outbound destination, despite the quarantine requirements. This was because many South African travellers were emigrating. Sally mentioned that the airline had also seen a strong uptake of inbound flights this month by SA residents returning home to South Africa from China.

Singapore Airlines has also introduced fares to the Maldives, which is open to South African travellers. The airline is working closely with tour operators to promote the route. Sally said Singapore Airlines had good connections from Johannesburg to Malé via Singapore with a three-hour 55-minute transit on the outbound leg and a four-hour 50-minute transit time on the return flight to Johannesburg.

Source: African Travel & Tourism Association