British Airways has announced the resumption of its flights between London and Johannesburg.
The carrier says the flights between London Heathrow and Johannesburg OR Tambo will restart on June 25, operating once a week until July 16, but it doesn’t give any further details on the frequency beyond that date, nor are Cape Town flights mentioned.
The schedule, from June 25 is:
BA57 departs LHR at 22h35 on Fridays and arrives in JNB at 10h40 the following day.
BA54 departs JNB at 21h15 on Saturdays and arrives in LHR at 07h35 the following day.
But the specific requirements for entering the UK remain in place. Only British or Irish citizens, and holders of residence, work or study permits will be allowed on the flights to the UK, as South Africa remains a Red List country.
While the South African government allows international travel to and from South Africa for any purpose, including tourism, the UK advises against all but essential travel to South Africa, based on the assessment of COVID-19 risks. But this does not mean that it is illegal to travel to SA, as it had been up to the start of June.
However, anyone who has travelled in or through a Red List country, like South Africa, in the 10 days prior to their departure to the UK, must enter the UK through a designated Red List terminal (currently Terminal 3), have a COVID negative PCR test result (within 72 hours of departure), have completed an online passenger locator form and must have pre-booked and pre-paid, prior to departure, accommodation at a managed quarantine facility. This includes those who have transited through South Africa.
The UK government has already said it intends to enforce its rules using financial penalties.
