The popular London to Cape Town route just got busier with the arrival of Norse Atlantic Airways’ inaugural flight in the city on Tuesday, October 29.
The seasonal three times a week flights will compete with British Airways’ permanent service and Virgin Atlantic’s seasonal service.
The sold-out flight was late landing in Cape Town as the pilot gave passengers a scenic tour of the city before touching down to a water salute and a welcome from a marimba band.
Norse Atlantic CEO and founder, Bjørn Tore Larse, who arrived on the first flight said the airline was born from an ambition to “be the explorers’ airline”.
He said he experienced the need for more competition between Cape Town and London after visiting the city last year but found the return to London very expensive.
“I all but had to sell my house, it was so expensive and I thought, there must be room for more competition and there must be somebody who can make it a little bit more affordable to fly between those two cities.”
He said the airline followed the ABC rule – affordable but comfortable.
Norse Atlantic exclusively flies modern Boeing 787 Dreamliners with two cabin options – economy and Norse Premium. Fares start from around R5 020 return, including taxes, and the airline is targeting both leisure and business travellers.
Its presence on the route is currently only seasonal – running until the end of April.
Speaking at the launch event, Bronwen Auret, Chief Quality Assurance Officer at SA Tourism, said the UK, South Africa’s top source market with almost 400 000 arrivals, would be further boosted by Norse’s arrival.
“This is going to be a very fruitful route for us as we welcome more arrivals from the UK,” she said.
The route between London Heathrow and Cape Town serviced by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic is currently the busiest between South Africa and Europe with 7 070 seats for the week of January 13, 2025, according to data from the Centre of Aviation. London Gatwick to Cape Town (flown by Norse Atlantic and British Airways as seasonal flights) ranks as the 13th busiest, for the same week, with 1 014 seats.
The Centre of Aviation also predicts that Norse will have 0,6% of total seats between Europe and South Africa this year, growing to 2,6% in the next winter season.
James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth in Cape Town said Norse joined 226 international flights landing at Cape Town International Airport weekly, from 31 destinations.
For every 100 international travellers arriving in our city and in the Western Cape, it generates R2.1 million in tourism spend.”
