Western Cape courts US airlines for direct flights

THE Western Cape is in
talks with US carriers
and SAA to establish
direct flights between Cape
Town and America, to cater
for growing demand from the
US into the Mother City.
A business case for a
direct connection between
the Mother City and the
US is in progress and will
be presented to interested
carriers at the 2016 World
Routes conference in China
in September, says project
director of Cape Town Air
Access (CTAA), Paul van den
Brink.
The CTAA has already
secured meetings with
interested airlines, including
major US carriers and SAA,
at which time the airlines’
teams responsible for route
planning will assess the
relevant figures, he adds.
The CTAA is a collaboration
between the Western Cape
Provincial Government, the
City of Cape Town, Acsa,
Cape Town Tourism and
Wesgro.
“Over the past six or
seven years passenger
traffic has seen average
year-on-year growth of 6-7%,”
says Paul.
He adds that this will grow
over the next half year, as
bookings for Cape Town are
up by 15% from the US.
He says, from a trade
perspective, the US is in
the top five countries for
both Cape Town and the
Western Cape. The country
is also number one for
investment into Cape Town.
“There are some American
multinationals that want to
increase their investment in
Cape Town.”
In terms of US
destinations earmarked for
the route, Miami seems to
be a favoured connection.
Judy Lain, chief marketing
officer of Wesgro, says:
“Miami is a great one.”
Craig van Rooyen, director
of Tour d’Afrique, who
attended the meeting, says
Miami seemed to be the
destination being focused
on at the presentation. He
adds that possible airlines
could include American
Airlines and United Airlines,
while there was also the
possibility of approaching
Delta Air Lines. “They are
definitely approaching all the
other airlines to see who
would be prepared to fly in
here,” says Craig.
However, when asked
specifically about Miami,
Paul says that it is not
just Miami that is under
consideration.
While Delta Air Lines says
it has no plans at this stage
to increase its destinations
in South Africa, other US
carriers questioned by
TNW have not ruled out the
possibility. Both United and
American Airlines said they
were continually evaluating
demand to ensure
maximisation of fleet and
route network opportunities.
SAA has also not
denied the possibility
of its involvement. “We
are currently looking at
a number of network
enhancements that will
meet customer demand,
promote efficiencies and
connectivity and improve
the airline’s bottom line.
We will make these
network announcements
at appropriate times
and cannot rule out the
possibility of commencing
flights out of Cape Town
to the United States
of America,” says
spokesperson, Tlali Tlali