Direct flights from Botswana and London Gatwick are on the cards for Cape Town with further announcements about non-stop services to the US, Asia and two key African destinations expected soon. This comes as the city makes direct air access a top priority with the establishment of Cape Town Air Access, a partnership between key role players in trade and tourism.
A division of Wesgro, Cape Town Air Access was launched formally on February 25 with the signing of an Memorandum of Understanding by the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), the City of Cape Town (CoCT), the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) , Cape Town Tourism (CTT) and Wesgro . Following the loss of direct services from Atlanta, Buenos Aires and London (with SAA) in the past, its primary mandate is to retain, establish and expand direct air routes in and out of Cape Town International Airport.
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Speaking at the launch, Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris, said since its establishment six months ago, Cape Town Air Access has already had several successes: Ethiopian Airlines on February 3 added two non-stop flights from Addis Ababa, following a Joint Marketing Agreement with Cape Town Air Access. This brings the total number of services between the cities to nine (four via Gaborone and three via Johannesburg). Turkish Airlines flies non-stop daily from Istanbul since October. KLM has upped its frequencies to a year-round daily service from Amsterdam, increasing Cape Town’s international connectivity to major global hubs in Europe, North America, Asia and India. SA Airlink will fly non-stop five times weekly from Maun, Botswana from March 11; and the London route will gain additional capacity next summer with three direct flights from Gatwick operated by Thomas Cook.
Harris said the Cape Town Air Access team now was prioritising developing non-stop routes to the USA (a top buyer of Western Cape product), Asia (China via Singapore) and strategic destinations in Africa (Nigeria and Kenya). Cape Town in 2015 only had 13 non-stop flights, of which only five were to destinations in Africa.
Harris said the collaboration from all stakeholders was key, with DEDAT commissioning comprehensive business cases on strategic routes to prioritise development, CoCT establishing key relationships with international stakeholders; ACSA Cape Town providing data analysis and interpretation of the traveller market; and CTT connecting relevant private sector partners to lobby for route development. He said private sector input would be sought on which destinations to target and where needed to fund incentives when pitching to airlines.
