31-08-2017
Today Cape Town Air Access officially welcomed South African Tourism (SAT) as a member of the Cape Town Air Access Steering Committee.
In June this year the Committee unanimously voted to make SAT a member, and today SAT CEO Sisa Ntshona officially completed this process by signing the Cape Town Air Access membership agreement on behalf of the national tourism agency.
Cape Town Air Access is a partnership, based at Wesgro, between the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, Airports Company of South Africa, Cape Town Tourism and now South African Tourism. The Steering Committee comprises representatives from these partners and meets every quarter to guide the work of the project team.
This partnership is the focal point for international air route development in the Western Cape. Since its launch in 2015 it has landed ten new routes and 11 route expansions, adding over 650 000 seats and thereby helping Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) reach the 10 million passengers mark for the first time in 2016.
The added capacity has seen the international terminal grow at an unprecedented 27% for the first half of 2017, and the airport is expecting 2 million more international passengers this year than it processed in 2016. Cape Town Air Access has already secured new routes to Victoria Falls and Cologne as well as the expansion of Air France’s Paris route this year to help CTIA reach its ambitious goals.
This increased air access will also make a significant impact on jobs and growth as 3 000 jobs are supported by each regularly scheduled long-haul flight, and for every 10% increase in passenger numbers the regional economy grows by 2%,
“Wesgro would like to officially welcome SAT on board. Cape Town Air Access has achieved remarkable results over the past two years and we’re confident that our new national partner will help take the initiative to new heights,” said Wesgro CEO Tim Harris.