Out of the so-called Big 3 of U.S. carriers, United Airlines has by far the largest presence in Africa, serving Accra, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos, and soon Marrakesh and Dakar, from its two East Coast fortress hubs at Newark and Washington-Dulles. Cape Town sees service from both Newark and Dulles with the 777-200ER, the latter one currently being the world’s longest 777-200ER route, following the continued suspension of EWR-HKG, also operated by United. But enough chitchat, let’s get to the flying!
Server: Solo
Airline: United Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-224ER
Origin: Cape Town International Airport, Matroosfontein, South Africa (CPT)
Destination: Dulles International Airport, Dulles, Virginia (IAD)
Flight Number: UA2223
Route: FACT-KIAD
Seat: 10A (Polaris)
Time En Route: 15 Hours 44 Minutes
Waiting to board in Cape Town for the almost 16-hour flight to Washington
Holding short of the runway while we start up the other engine after a long single-engine taxi
A classic heavy, roaring GE90 departure
Climbing out over Century City. No, not that Century City.
Leveled off at our intial cruising altitude of 28,000 feet over the South Atlantic
New day dawning near North Carolina
Starting our final descent into D.C. with the long ridge of Shenandoah Mountain off in the distance
Silky-smooth landing at Dulles just in time for breakfast
We have a suitably-long taxi to the gate after our very, very long flight
N79011 parked and waiting for her next load of passengers in a few hours, who’ll be going to Tokyo-Haneda on UA803