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Cape’s spectacular growth set to continue with imminent air capacity increase

Source: Tourism Update, 17/10/2017


Cape Town has seen double digit growth of international arrivals from
Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the first half of this year.
Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Edelweiss and Eurowings will be adding
or increasing frequency to Cape Town in the coming months.
Announcing the re-introduction of Austrian Airlines to South African
skies, Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris, said the demand for direct routes to
Cape Town from key European markets was growing.
Cape Town has seen double-digit growth of international arrivals from
Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the first half of this year.
International visitors from Germany grew by 10% and by 12% from
Switzerland while a massive 25% increase in Austrian visitors to the
Mother City was recorded.
“In the first half of this year, international arrivals to Cape Town
grew by 27%,” said Harris. “If we carry on at this growth rate, in six
years Cape Town International Airport will be the same size as OR
Tambo International Airport.”
He said the growth in demand was clearly reflected in the expansion of
routes such as those announced this week by the Lufthansa Group.
From October 27, 2018, Austrian Airlines will launch two weekly
flights from Vienna to Cape Town. This year, from October 29,
Lufthansa will increase its direct service from Frankfurt to Cape Town
from three to five flights a week and from November 27, Edelweiss will
fly from Zurich to Cape Town three times a week.
According to Dr André Schulz, Lufthansa Group Manager for Southern
Africa, while the point-of-sale share was still higher on the
airline’s Johannesburg routes, the growth and demand for increased
services was being seen into Cape Town. “That is why the focus for Update.
German, Swiss and Austrian travellers, he said, were increasingly
looking for alternative holiday destinations and Cape Town was
undoubtedly gaining traction. “It is not all that surprising that so
many Europeans are happy to spend their holidays in the Western Cape.
The destination offers very real value for money, which is why the
various brands and hubs within our group continue to give Cape Town
more attention. More flights, more services and more frequencies are
on the cards.”
He said with this in mind Eurowings, the Lufthansa Group’s premium
low-cost carrier, would introduce its new schedule to Cape Town in the
next few weeks.
“The first aircraft will touch down at the Cape Town airport on
November 6,” he said. Eurowings will operate a once-a-week flight
between Cape Town and Cologne in Germany. According to Harris this
opens the Western Cape up to an even greater number of German visitors.

Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunity and Tourism, told TU
improved air access continued to be a focus for the government who
were committed to growing tourism numbers even more.
He said a pipeline of projects were in place for 2018 as more routes
would be unveiled to destinations around the world.
“In a country where we are battling to find 1% GDP growth, a 27%
increase in international arrivals is a phenomenal number. In the
upcoming summer season, we are scheduled to see an additional 130 000
international seats flying to our destination, due to the commitment
of all airlines from all parts of the world to start operating new
routes direct to Cape Town, or to expand their current flight schedules.”
Asked about the purchase of airberlin recently by the Lufthansa Group,
Schulz said it would be incorporated into the Eurowings platform
during the course of 2018.
“Airberlin will cease operations at the end of this month,” he said.
“We will take over half of the fleet that includes 81 aircraft and 1
700 employees. The growth story of Eurowings will see acceleration
just by this purchase of the Lufthansa Group. It is a major step in
European airline consolidation.”


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