Airlines pack into Cape Town for summer

Good news for Cape Town! The city is set to receive increasing numbers of travellers who will arrive by air.  This is beneficial for the city’s local economy.  

The Mother City has grown in popularity in recent years. The city is booming with not only South Africans who move there for a better lifestyle but also with droves of international tourists who flock to Cape Town each year.

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CAPE TOWN

The demand for international travellers wishing to visit the Mother City is understandable, given the fact that Cape Town is a highly favoured global destination.

Cape Town’s hotels are reporting high occupancy rates. This is in stark contrast with occupancy rates hotels were seeing over the last few years when SA’s tourism sector was still feeling the impact of the tourism slump caused by lockdowns and measures implemented during the pandemic.     

The city has often been awarded the title of the world’s greatest city by a number of publications and surveys.

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INCREASED AIRLIFT

To cater to the growing demand from visitors, airlines are rolling out more scheduled flights, or ramping up their flight schedules to Cape Town.

There has been strong growth in international tourist arrivals at Winnie Mandela International Airport.

 CAJ News reports that the increase in arrivals at the international terminal is 57 percent compared to 2022.

This figure surpassed the two million mark with over 2,2 million two-way passengers moving through the international terminal.

NEW AIRLINE FLIGHTS

LAM Mozambique Airlines will commence scheduled flights between Maputo and Cape Town from 12 December. The airline will operate three flights per week on the route.

Qatar Airways will increase flight frequencies between Doha and Cape Town. The airline currently offers ten flights per week on this route. From 1 December Qatar Airways will operate double frequencies with 14 weekly flights to and from Cape Town.

SEASONAL ROUTES

Air Mauritius will increase frequencies between Mauritius and Cape Town, from two to three flights per week. This arrangement will be for the period between 1 December and 2 April.

Virgin Atlantic Airways started up direct scheduled flights between London and Cape Town on 28 October. The airline will operate these seasonal flights until the end of March next year.

Air France will also increase flight frequencies on its seasonal Paris to Cape Town service. Flights will be increased from three to five frequencies per week between January 17 and February 27.

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