Cape Town International Airport is set to reach a milestone in the next few weeks – hosting 10 million passengers in a single year for the first time.
The success is largely due to the Western Cape government’s Cape Town Air Access initiative‚ which also saw the creation of an estimated 16‚000 jobs and a R3-billion tourism injection.
“We’ve seen exceptional growth to date and anticipate that we will pass the 10 million passenger mark in the next number of weeks.
“On our busiest days we process up to as much as 39‚000 passengers‚ uplift as much 2.2million litres of fuel and facilitate nearly 20‚000 numbers of bags‚” said Airports Company of South Africa spokesman Deidre Davids.
The provincial government in partnership with the City of Cape Town‚ ACSA and Cape Town Tourism “opened” its skies in order to improve air access. As a result new jobs‚ tourism and increased spending flew into the region.
By securing six new routes and eight route expansions into the province‚ Air Access has resulted in an increase in the province’s air arrivals by over half a million passengers.
Minister of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde‚ said that tourism employed 204‚000 people in the Western Cape‚ and that three thousand jobs were supported by each regularly scheduled long haul flight.
“For every 10% increase in passenger numbers the regional economy grows by 2%. These figures illustrate the value of increased air access‚” said Winde.
“International air arrivals into Cape Town are increasing by 22% year on year. British Airways this summer added three Boeing 777-200 flights from Gatwick to Cape Town to meet the increasing demand on that route. Last week‚ Lufthansa Airlines launched its all-year non-stop flight between Frankfurt and Cape Town.”
Davids said that the growth had put some pressure on their systems.
“While the operational teams have put various plans in place queues will be unavoidable. Passengers need to remember to arrive at the airport early.”
Winde said that a team was working on further improvement of the African network as well as targeting of a direct route to North America and more direct frequencies to Asia.
TMG Digital/Cape Newsroom
Cape Town International to move 10 million passengers in a year
Cape Town International Airport is set to reach a milestone in the next few weeks – hosting 10 million passengers in a single year for the first time.
The success is largely due to the Western Cape government’s Cape Town Air Access initiative‚ which also saw the creation of an estimated 16‚000 jobs and a R3-billion tourism injection.
“We’ve seen exceptional growth to date and anticipate that we will pass the 10 million passenger mark in the next number of weeks.
“On our busiest days we process up to as much as 39‚000 passengers‚ uplift as much 2.2million litres of fuel and facilitate nearly 20‚000 numbers of bags‚” said Airports Company of South Africa spokesman Deidre Davids.
The provincial government in partnership with the City of Cape Town‚ ACSA and Cape Town Tourism “opened” its skies in order to improve air access. As a result new jobs‚ tourism and increased spending flew into the region.
By securing six new routes and eight route expansions into the province‚ Air Access has resulted in an increase in the province’s air arrivals by over half a million passengers.
Minister of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde‚ said that tourism employed 204‚000 people in the Western Cape‚ and that three thousand jobs were supported by each regularly scheduled long haul flight.
“For every 10% increase in passenger numbers the regional economy grows by 2%. These figures illustrate the value of increased air access‚” said Winde.
“International air arrivals into Cape Town are increasing by 22% year on year. British Airways this summer added three Boeing 777-200 flights from Gatwick to Cape Town to meet the increasing demand on that route. Last week‚ Lufthansa Airlines launched its all-year non-stop flight between Frankfurt and Cape Town.”
Davids said that the growth had put some pressure on their systems.
“While the operational teams have put various plans in place queues will be unavoidable. Passengers need to remember to arrive at the airport early.”
Winde said that a team was working on further improvement of the African network as well as targeting of a direct route to North America and more direct frequencies to Asia.
TMG Digital/Cape Newsroom
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