from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – PASSENGER growth at Cape Town International Airport is forecast in the coming months with some carriers planning to increase and boost frequencies.
Airlink will increase frequencies on its Cape Town – Mbombela (Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport) route, doubling capacity to 12 flights per week, from August 7.
South African Airways will commence a non-stop flight between the city and São Paulo, Brazil on October 31, with two frequencies per week.
Wesgro, the Western Cape marketing agency, confirmed the plans.
Its Cape Town Air Access team welcomed Proflight Zambia’s inaugural flight from Lusaka to the coastal city on July 1.
Opening up several destinations in Zambia for travelers departing from Cape Town, the service is operating twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays on the carrier’s 50-seater Bombardier CRJ jet, with a flight time of three hours and 15 minutes.
Lusaka is the largest unserved market for Cape Town in Southern Africa, with over 23 000 two-way passengers recorded in 2019.
Meanwhile, passenger growth at Cape Town International Airport continues, with both the domestic and international passenger terminals recording positive monthly and year-to-date increases.
The domestic terminal recorded a 24 percent year-on-year growth for the month of June, with over 500 000 passengers moving through the terminal.
The notable increase in growth can be attributed to the steady rise in domestic carrier capacity over the past year.
This response was prompted by the discontinuation of Comair’s operations (British Airways and Kulula) in June 2022, which resulted in the removal of 40 percent of domestic capacity from the market.
The year-to-date domestic passenger growth (January to June) was 9 percent, when compared to the same period in 2022.
The international terminal saw a 39 percent year-on-year growth in June, with over 173 000 passengers moving through the terminal.
Year-to-date, the international terminal is showing robust growth reaching 76 percent, with over 1,3 million two-way passengers moving through the international terminal for the first half of 2023.
George Airport’s passenger numbers saw an increase of 4 percent in June, with over 58 000 passengers traveling through the airport.
Year-to-date, the airport has welcomed over 374 000 passengers which represents a year-on-year growth of 3 percent.
– CAJ News