Two years after launching a non-stop flight between London and Durban, British Airways will discontinue flights from March 28, 2021.
The airline has also decided to end flights between the UK and Seychelles, Abu Dhabi in UAE, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Seoul in Korea, Calgary in Canada, Lima in Peru, Charleston and Pittsburg in the US and Jeddah in Saudia Arabia.
The flights will discontinue between March and April 2021.
The London/Durban route was a tourism booster for KZN
The non-stop flight between London and Durban commenced on November 1, 2018.
At the time, it operated three times a week on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Many role players in KwaZulu-Natal said that the direct flights will boost tourism and economic growth between the two destinations and therefore connect over 100 000 passengers between Durban and the United Kingdom every year.
According to The Citizen, KwaZulu-Natal’s Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone that the discontinuation of flights "will hamper the growth of international air services into the region post-Covid-19."
Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone CEO Hamish Erskine told the publication that the impact of Covid-19 and subsequent travel restrictions globally have resulted in low anticipated demand. He said it is "not unreasonable that an airline like British Airways reduces the routes in its network.”
In a statement by the British Airways Press Office, the airline said: " We are sorry that, like other airlines, due to the current Coronavirus pandemic and global travel restrictions we are operating a reduced and dynamic schedule.
“We will be in touch with any customers whose flights are affected and advise customers to check ba.com for the latest flight information."