British Airways is to launch new winter flights from Gatwick to Cape Town, starting on November 24.
The move follows Virgin Atlantic’s decision to axe its seasonal flights between London and Cape Town at the end of the winter 2015 programme in order to focus on transatlantic flights.
BA will offer three flights a week on the winter-only service, which will complement its twice daily service to Cape Town from Heathrow.
Lynne Embleton, British Airways’ managing director at Gatwick said: "We are incredibly excited to be the only airline to offer direct services from both Gatwick and Heathrow to this hugely popular destination while adding another long haul route to our rapidly growing network."
The three flights will depart on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 18.00, arriving in to Cape Town at 07.50 the following morning.
From winter 2016 British Airways will add a fourth three class Boeing 777 aircraft to its Gatwick fleet, bringing the total number of Boeing 777s at the London airport to 12.
Cape Town is one of four long-haul destinations British Airways is launching from Gatwick this year, with flights to Costa Rica starting on April 27, daily flights to New York’s JFK beginning on May 1 and flights to Lima, Peru commencing on May 4.
