The first Eurowings flight landed at Cape Town International Airport today at 12h30.
The new route will be serviced by an Airbus A330-300 with 21 seats in Best, 46 in More Comfort and 243 in Basic. The once a week flight will depart from Cologne on Sundays and return from Cape Town on Mondays.
The Eurowings brand is a newly established, independent low-cost airline modelled on its successful partner Germanwings. Eurowings offers excellent value for money in the European airline business.
Eurowings is part of the Lufthansa Group and today’s launch of the new flight from Cologne to Cape Town follows the introduction of a direct connection from Frankfurt by Lufthansa Airlines in 2016, the expansion of the Zurich – Cape Town route by Edelweiss Air in 2017 and the recently announced Vienna – Cape Town route by Austrian Airlines launching in 2018.
Eurowings has already indicated that they are interested in growing their presence in Cape Town in future.
Importantly, the direct tourism spend into the Western Cape economy over the first five months of the Eurowings operation is estimated at R43 million.
This new route was established with the help of Cape Town Air Access, a partnership between Wesgro, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Government, Airports Company South Africa, Cape Town Tourism and South African Tourism.
Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro said that “The launch of the Eurowings direct route to Cape Town is an excellent new development in what has been a string of new direct flights to Cape Town announced recently by the Lufthansa Group. The Eurowings lost-cost model is also an exciting development and will certainly increase the ease with which leisure and business travellers can visit Cape Town and the Western Cape.”
“We look forward to the direct positive impact that this new operation will have on the regions’ economy – estimated at R43 million for just the first five months of operation. The Cape Town Air Access team, which helped facilitate this new flight, are also particularly encouraged by the indications from Eurowings that they are interested in growing their presence in Cape Town in the future.”
Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said: “The increase in direct flights to Cape Town is encouraging and a vote of confidence in our city.
“Each flight means a growth in our economy and more opportunities for the people of Cape Town. It’s exciting to know Eurowings is already looking at growing their presence even more.”
Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde added that “The launch of the Eurowings direct route is a great way to celebrate the start of our peak tourism season. It also illustrates the economic benefits of air access. This flight is projected to generate R43 million in its first five months alone.”
“This is why we have prioritised air access through our Project Khulisa growth strategy. We’ve seen growth of 27% in international air arrivals in the past year. Increased visitors to our region mean new economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs. More than 20 000 jobs have been added to the tourism economy since 2014, and improved air access helped drive this growth.”