United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has announced that it has applied with the US Department of Transportation for authority to launch 3x weekly service linking its New York Newark hub with Cape Town International starting from December 15, 2019.

If approved, the service would be operated with United's B787-9s and become United's only service to the African continent since 2016, when it terminated its daily Houston Intercontinental-Lagos flights. United also used to serve Accra until 2012.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) are currently the only two carriers linking the United States directly with South Africa. Delta operates a daily B777-200 service from Atlanta to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, while SAA operates daily from New York JFK to Johannesburg using A340-600s.

Using a mix of A330-200s and A330-300s, South African Airways also links Washington Dulles with Johannesburg on a daily basis with two weekly services stopping at Dakar Blaise Diagne International and five operating via Accra.