Johannesburg, South Africa: South Africa is seeking to restore direct passenger flights with India after more than 11 years without a nonstop connection, as President Cyril Ramaphosa pushes for stronger trade, tourism and investment ties with the Asian country.
Ramaphosa made the call during the India South Africa Business Leadership Roundtable in New Delhi on September 12, held alongside the 18th BRICS Summit.
“To turn this potential into practical partnerships, we are keen to restore direct flights between South Africa and India,” Ramaphosa said.
The proposed revival of direct air links is expected to make business and tourism travel easier while supporting South Africa’s efforts to deepen commercial engagement with India.
The Johannesburg to Mumbai route has been identified as the priority connection. Talks are underway with several airlines, while other possible routes include Mumbai to Cape Town and Durban, as well as a direct Delhi to Johannesburg service.
Airports Company South Africa has identified Johannesburg to Mumbai as the leading option because the route accounts for about 58 percent of passenger traffic between the two countries.
South Africa and India have not had a direct passenger service since April 1, 2015, when South African Airways withdrew its Johannesburg to Mumbai route as part of a broader network optimisation programme.
SAA subsequently routed passengers travelling to India through Abu Dhabi through code share arrangements involving Etihad Airways and Jet Airways. Those connections provided onward services to destinations including Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Travellers have since largely depended on connecting flights to move between the two countries.
Trade driving aviation plans
The renewed interest in direct flights comes as South Africa seeks to expand its economic relationship with India.
South Africa is currently Africa’s largest economy by nominal gross domestic product, with the International Monetary Fund projecting its 2026 output at about $480 billion, ahead of Egypt and Nigeria.
India is already South Africa’s fourth largest trading partner. More than 150 Indian companies have invested over $10 billion in South Africa and created more than 18,000 jobs.
Ramaphosa wants to build on those investments by expanding cooperation in infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, technology, critical minerals and electric vehicle battery value chains.
“India’s strengths in pharmaceuticals and health technology can support our ambition to expand the local production of medicines and vaccines,” said Ramaphosa.
“It has capabilities in information technology, financial technology and digital public infrastructure that can support the modernisation of our own systems and services,” he said.
South Africa also wants to position its mineral resources to support India’s expanding clean energy and manufacturing industries while increasing domestic processing.
“Our endowment of critical minerals can feed India’s fast-growing renewable energy, battery and automotive value chains, while ensuring that more of the processing of these minerals happens on South African soil.”
Strong travel demand
The proposed air links would build on established movement between South Africa and India.
South Africa received 69,680 tourists from India in 2025, while the latest full year Indian figures show that 44,168 South Africans travelled to India in 2024.
More than 126,000 passengers travel between the two countries each year. Their bilateral aviation agreement allows for as many as 28 weekly flights in each direction.
South African tourism officials have already engaged with Indian carriers Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet as they search for an airline prepared to resume direct services.
The government is also encouraging Indian businesses to view South Africa as a gateway to broader African markets, linking the aviation push with its wider strategy to attract investment and expand the country’s role in continental trade.
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