Some 20 years have passed since Brussels had regular passenger flights to South Africa. Perhaps it indicates the nature of the market, the myriad one-stop options, and the lack of priority among the few airlines able to serve it. That has changed, with Air Belgium now linking Brussels to Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Air Belgium to South Africa

At 21:14 on September 14th, Air Belgium flight KF2305 took off from Brussels to Johannesburg and Cape Town, behind schedule but making up time en route. It runs to Africa on Wednesdays and Sundays and northbound on Mondays and Thursdays. The schedule is as follows, with all times local:

• Brussels to Johannesburg: KF2305, 19:45-07:30+1 (11h 30m block time)
• Johannesburg to Cape Town: KF2305, 08:45-11:00 (2h 15m)
• Cape Town to Johannesburg: KF2306, 15:00-17:15 (2h 15m)
• Johannesburg to Brussels: KF2306, 18:45-06:15+1 (11h 30m)

For those traveling to Johannesburg, Air Belgium's nonstop route is, of course, the quickest option. However, for those continuing to Cape Town, a journey of 15h 15m, various other European carriers are quicker – Lufthansa is 13h 55m, KLM 14h 5m – although they require a one-plus hour connection en route and are typically more expensive.

Uses A330-900s

Since Air Belgium removed its A340-300s, its passenger fleet consists solely of two A330neos. These have three classes: 30 fully flat business beds, 21 in premium economy, and 235 in economy. The first roundtrip to South Africa utilized OO-ABG, delivered to Air Belgium in October 2021.

Belgium to South Africa

Brussels already has a twice-weekly nonstop freight service to Johannesburg using Ethiopian Airlines' B777-200Fs, an important market that Air Belgium will also serve.

Regarding passengers, Belgium-South Africa inevitably had relatively little traffic in 2020 and 2021. However, booking data shows that, in 2019, around 98,000 roundtrip point-to-point (P2P) passengers traveled between them, excluding any passengers leaked overland to Amsterdam or Paris or anywhere else. It isn't surprising that Johannesburg and Cape Town were responsible for nine in ten passengers.

Johannesburg and Cape Town

With nearly 50,000 P2P passengers, booking data shows that Johannesburg was Brussels' primary South African market. More than this, it was Brussels' largest unserved market in Africa and among Johannesburg's biggest unserved in Europe, along with the likes of Manchester, Lisbon, and Dublin.

Meanwhile, Cape Town had approximately 38,000 passengers, making it Brussels' second-largest unserved African city and Cape Town's second-largest in Europe, behind only Dublin.

While P2P passenger traffic was good, fares tell a somewhat different story. Excluding taxes and any fuel surcharge, Johannesburg averaged $390 one-way and Cape Town $293. It suggests a lack of premium passengers, vital for long-haul service. In contrast, Frankfurt, for example, had $499 to Johannesburg and $381 to Cape Town while also being closer.

Where would you like Air Belgium to fly? Let us know in the comments.