The Western Cape tourism industry has reacted with shock, dismay and disappointment to South African Airways’ announcement that it will stop flying between Cape Town and London Heathrow from August 15 because the route has become unsustainable. The industry unanimously fears that the decision will negatively impact arrivals from the UK, Europe and the USA. 

Wesgro CEO, Nils Flaatten, called for an urgent national debate on the airlift strategy to discuss flights to Cape Town and other regional airports. He said the region was now at risk of losing business and leisure travellers from the USA who connected in London for Cape Town, as travelling time was now extended even further. “Our research says the London-Cape Town route still holds strong economic value for the Western and Eastern Cape. International airlines identified this and are increasing their capacity during peak season,” he argued.

Western Cape Tourism MEC, Alan Winde, labelled SAA’s decision “sad and disappointing” for the whole of the province’s economy, saying direct airlift was important for business, tourism and airfreight. “I have no doubt it will have a negative impact,” he said. “We will push forward with our airlift strategy to encourage other airlines to fly here.” He said the Cape must review its long-haul competitiveness and create the right economic conditions for airlines to fly there.

Cape Town Tourism CEO, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, feared it could negatively affect tourism from the UK and the rest of Europe. She said it again highlighted the lack of direct air access to Cape Town. She said the region needed to work hard to grow business travel to justify more direct airline services. CTT and Wesgro would continue to seek joint marketing opportunities with SAA in the markets in which they operate. “The announcement further strengthens the need for consolidated marketing efforts in our destination between the different spheres of government, agencies and the private sector,” she said.

“SAA’s announcement is a shock and a huge blow to us,” commented hotelier, Nils Heckscher, MD of Winchester Mansions, fearing the inconvenience of routing via Johannesburg might put off visitors. However he welcomed SAA’s redeployment of aircraft on growing routes as positive news for the development and growth of new tourism markets.

SAA GM Commercial Theunis Potgieter, told a Cape Town media briefing that SAA was engaging with the Cape tourism industry and remained committed to marketing the city and province for tourism and trade purposes.

However, he said, axing the CPT-LHR route would have an immediate positive effect on SAA’s bottom line. August 14 would see the last non-stop CPT-LHR service. Outbound flights would re-route via Johannesburg from August 15 and inbound from August 16. Thrice daily services between JNB and LHR would scale down to two daily flights but larger aircraft to accommodate Cape Town passengers meant an effective 13% capacity increase on the route. Existing bookings and Voyager members would be re-routed free of charge, or those choosing not to would be refunded. SAA offered 44 flights daily between JNB and CPT and was working with Acsa and Government to improve transit at OR Tambo. There would be enhanced services for frequent flyers and premium travellers. He said SAA was looking at increasing its number of business-class seats and at introducing premium economy to boost profitability on long-haul flights.

It was building its Johannesburg hub and would redeploy its aircraft to grow its services to Accra, Mumbai and Perth, plus adding Abidjan and Brazzaville to its network. It was also negotiating to increase its weekly connections to Lagos. SAA already serves 26 African destinations of which 95% are profitable.

Potgieter said CPT-LHR proved unsustainable because: - High Air Passenger Duty at LHR and expensive transit visas for South Africans resulted in a 24% decline in demand on the SA/UK route since 2009, with VisitBritain rating South Africa among the top five fastest declining visitor markets to the UK. Demand for flights between Cape Town and London and the USA via London shrank from 650 000 to 560 000 passengers between 2007 and 2011.

- When Lufthansa sold bmi to IAG it left SAA without a Star Alliance partner to connect to at LHR.

- Increased competition from BA and Virgin, which had cost-effective connections from LHR. - Emirates’ twice daily services with connections worldwide at Dubai substantially impacted on SAA. - CPT being a feeder point and not a connecting hub meant SAA competed on CPT-LHR on price alone.

- Seasonal operations were not feasible because SAA couldn’t deploy aircraft for months only.