The Lufthansa Group has expanded its repatriation programme to include further flights with Lufthansa between Frankfurt and Johannesburg and Cape Town as well as biweekly flights between Zurich and Johannesburg by Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS).
The repatriation flight programme will continue until the international travel ban to/from South Africa will be lifted.
By working closely with both the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa, as well as local government, the Lufthansa Group will continue to operate repatriation flights to enable South African nationals to return home while transporting German and Swiss nationals, European Union members and Schengen State residents to their respective homes.
The airline also revealed that the Lufthansa repatriation flights will permit employees of the German and EU business community, including technical experts, to travel to South Africa for special work purposes.
Dr André Schulz, General Manager Sales, Lufthansa Group, Southern Africa & East Africa, said repatriation flights are the most essential service that an airline can provide in a country where travel bans remain in place.
"As South Africa is a key trading partner to Germany, Switzerland and Austria, it is important that we remain actively present in the market and maintains strong relations between South Africa and Europe.
“We are glad to continue servicing the local market in this way until travel bans are lifted and all Lufthansa Group carriers are given permission to resume its scheduled services to Johannesburg and Cape Town,” he said.
The next SWISS repatriation flight from Johannesburg to Zurich will take place on August 22. Lufthansa will operate a repatriation flight on August 26 from Frankfurt to Johannesburg and will return on August 28 from Johannesburg to Frankfurt.
Both airlines have also released their September repatriation schedules. Additional SWISS repatriation flights will take place on September 5 and 19, 2020.
Lufthansa will operate a total of eight repatriation flights over September. The Frankfurt to Johannesburg route will depart on September 9 and 23 and return from Johannesburg to Frankfurt on September 11 and 25. Lufthansa has also scheduled repatriation flights between Frankfurt and Cape Town.
Flight LH576 will depart Frankfurt for Cape Town on September 6 and 20, returning Cape Town to Frankfurt on flight LH577 on September 8 and 22.