The airline, which is part of Air France, has been designed to meet the expectations of younger travellers in particular. This new service will replace the current Air France service offering, and will fly from Paris to Cape Town three times a week, as of 1st April 2018.
Cape Town International Airport is emerging as a key regional airline hub, on the back of Cape Town and the Western Cape’s continued popularity for both business and leisure tourism.
There has been a notable increase in arrivals from France over the last few years. Between 2016 and 2017, arrivals increased by 35%, from 55 029 to 74 278.
The top ranking source cities for arrivals from France are Paris, Nice, Lyon and Marseille, all of which have had double-digit growth between 2016 and 2017.
Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris said: “This is not only good for our tourism industry, but also for business. Indeed, according to South African Tourism, 41% of travellers from France to Cape Town visit for leisure, and another 39% for business. This is precisely why Cape Town Air Access is so important for economic growth and job creation in the Cape. By making it easier for more people to visit our beautiful city and province, we will increase tourism, trade and investment, and most importantly, boost job creation.”
Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille said: “We are excited about this news and express our thanks to Joon for their confidence in Cape Town. This will be a welcome boost to our efforts to position Cape Town as a globally competitive business destination. We look forward to welcoming more tourists from France but also seeing more businesses and investors connect with us with much more ease thanks to these flights. Cape Town is the ideal city to live, work, play and invest in. Our Air Access team with Wesgro and the Western Cape Government will continue working harder to ensure that we expand on our direct flight offering even more to connect Cape Town to many other cities around the globe.”
The Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde added: "This is excellent news for our tourism sector. Improving air access is a key priority of our Project Khulisa Growth Strategy, and we've seen the positive impact of increased air routes. International air arrivals have grown by 27% year-on-year. I would like to commend the Cape Town Air Access team for this achievement and I would like to thank Joon for their business confidence in our region."