Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave

BA certainly used to fly to Durban. My first ever visit to South Africa was on BA55, which used to leave Terminal 4 at 22:00 on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sundays and get to Durban International Airport the next day at 12:20 . The return flight would leave around 19:30 hrs, again direct to London. Crews used to be based at the Beach Hotel by Palmer Street, which was then a full service hotel, and it was a favourite trip for them - in the days of Apartheid, given that BA's crews were fairly diverse, places like Johannesburg and even Cape Town were quite difficult places to visit for some crew. Durban was to a degree in its own zone, with "the season" when groups of younger (mainly but not only white) people would escape their parents from rural South Africa and universities at the beginning of summer for a few weeks by the sea.

I well recall leaving a snowy Heathrow, waking up in Durban, the 747 door opening and a blast of tropical air would roll down the aircraft. Long time ago!