Industry leaders have welcomed British Airways’ announcement of the return of its London-Gatwick to Cape Town seasonal route, highlighting that this latest development pushes flight capacity for the summer season beyond pre-pandemic levels.
BA will operate a seasonal flight from December 13 until March 25, 2023 with three flights a week with its Boeing 777-200 aircraft.
Flights depart Gatwick on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with the return flights from Cape Town the following day.
Furthermore, the airline will add capacity on its daily London-Heathrow route with the resumption of a second daily flight from November 13 until March 25, 2023 using an Airbus 350-1000.
Lynne Embleton, British Airways' MD at Gatwick said: "With its fantastic blend of nature, culture, wildlife and history there’s nowhere quite like Cape Town. Its dramatic coastline, the breath-taking views from Table Mountain and world-renowned vineyards and restaurants make it one of the most popular places in Africa to visit and explore.
"We are incredibly excited to be the only airline to offer direct services from both Gatwick and Heathrow to this hugely popular destination while adding another long-haul route to our rapidly growing network.”
With Virgin Atlantic’s return of its daily London-Heathrow flight, starting from November 5, this will equate to a total of 24 flights a week between Cape Town and the UK for the summer season.
“Cape Town and the Western Cape will benefit from this significant increase in connectivity from our top tourism market,” said a spokesperson for Cape Town Air Access.
Pre-pandemic levels exceeded
South African Tourism UK & Ireland Acting Hub Head, Kgomotso Ramothea, was quoted by UK-based trade publication, Travel Weekly, as noting: “The fact that the number of flights to Cape Town this autumn/winter will be above pre-pandemic levels shows that the city still has the hearts of the British traveller.”
Equally upbeat was City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities, James Vos. “We are working around the clock to make the tourism sector bounce back stronger than before. The visitor economy is everyone's business.
“With more events, cruise ships, and flights from the US, UK and Europe scheduled to begin in the coming weeks, Cape Town’s tourism and hospitality industries can expect an even bigger influx of travellers,” he added.
Vos said these positive developments were the result of hard work, collaboration, and innovative campaigns by the City and Cape Town Tourism.
11th best city in the world
Cape Town continuously features on top global travel destination lists. The most recent is the global Timeout.com brand naming South Africa’s oldest city as the 11th (of 53) best cities in the world, beating London, New York and Madrid, among others.
The list, which was compiled via a reader poll and in collaboration with a global network of editors and writers, rated the Mother City for its good food, culture, mountains, beaches, and nightlife, with the lifestyle news site proclaiming ‘you can do it all in Cape Town’.
Timeout highlighted, amongst others, that 87% of those polled in Cape Town said it was easy to relax – more than anywhere else in the world. Meanwhile, 93% said they rated the city highly for the variety of things to do.
