THE return to Cape Town next year of a new MyTravel Airways A/S charter from Scandinavia depends on how long it takes to get airport landing slots, says Lotte Petersen, area manager South Africa of Thomas Cook Northern Europe.

The inaugural Airbus A330 charter with 356 passengers from Denmark and Sweden jetted into the Mother City on November 8. MyTravel Airways A/S will bring 3 600 tourists to the region on 11 bi-weekly flights over the next five months, ending March 2008. Flights originate in Copenhagen, routing via Stockholm and Cairo to Cape Town. “For us to get into South Africa was pretty tough because there are not a lot of slot times available,” says Petersen. “At the moment we are testing the market. We certainly hope that we will have a successful season and that we will be back for next year's high season.” She says an obstacle for charters to South Africa is that local hotels release bed allotments too early for charter operators, whose clients typically book late. The Scandinavians are conducting two-week coach tours of Cape Town, the Winelands and the Garden Route with inbound tour operator Your Africa. Petersen says the packages are selling well, despite negative perceptions around safety.  “But word-of-mouth will help once people have been here,” she says. “We have seen increased interest in South Africa in Scandinavia and many Scandinavians have been finding their way here already.” MyTravel Airways A/S is based in Copenhagen. It is the sister airline to MyTravel Airways UK, the major UK scheduled and charter airline headquartered in Rochdale, England. Parent company, MyTravel Group, in June this year merged with Germany's Thomas Cook AG and formed Thomas Cook Group PLC. By Summer 2008, MyTravel Airways will merge with Thomas Cook Airlines and will be branded as Thomas Cook Airlines. The Scandinavian division, Thomas Cook Northern Europe, is the management company for some of the most established tour operators in the region, including Tjoereborg, Tjäreborg.fi (Finland), Ving and Spies.