Cape Town International Airport is a soaring success

Cape Town International Airport reported more than 3-million two-way international passenger trips for the first time ever last year. That’s a 10% increase from 2023, and it rounds off 24 months of continued growth in international passenger numbers since January 2023.

The jump is a tribute to Cape Town Air Access (CTAA), a public-private partnership launched 10 years ago to stimulate air traffic to Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Until 2019 the city had not had any direct access to the Americas. CTAA began engaging US airlines in 2016 and United Airlines began flying from Newark in New York, making it the first carrier to operate a direct route between the US and Cape Town. In 2022 United Airlines added Washington, DC to its network and Delta Air Lines started a direct flight between Atlanta and Cape Town.

With nine direct flights a week and a year-round service, the US is now the second-most popular destination out of Cape Town.

The CTAA initiative is powered by Wesgro (the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape), and also involves the Airports Company South Africa, South African Tourism, the Western Cape government, the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism and private sector partners the V&A Waterfront, DHL and Investec.

Wrenelle Stander, CEO of Wesgro and spokesperson for the partnership, says the organisation is focused on growing connectivity to underserviced markets, including Asia, Australia and North and West Africa. “It also demonstrates the power of collaboration between the public and private sector.” 

In January Dutch airline KLM increased the frequency of its flights between Schiphol and Cape Town from seven to 10 a week up to March. Air France has extended its operational season between Charles de Gaulle and Cape Town to the end of April. British Airways has increased its flights between Heathrow and Cape Town to three a day until end-March. Norse Atlantic Airways started flying to Cape Town last year and operates to and from Gatwick until the end of April.

Since 2015, CTAA has helped create 11 new routes with eight new African airlines. Regional connectivity has been boosted, with both Air Botswana and Airlink increasing capacity between Gaborone and Cape Town, starting in April. Air Botswana will introduce new routes from Maun and Kasane to Cape Town.

The top five airlines last year in terms of passenger numbers (operating international routes to and from Cape Town) were Emirates, British Airways, Qatar Airways, KLM and Airlink.

Air travel expert Linden Birns of Plane Talking explains that airlines based in Cape Town had been fighting with their hands tied until CTAA was set up. “Anywhere else in the world, airports, cities and tourism destination marketing organisations can go to airlines and say: ‘We can offer you incentives to fly to our city and bring traffic to us.’” That might mean a discount on user charges such as landing and parking fees. “But in South Africa they’re not allowed to do that because there are statutory controls and there’s no room for giving discounts.”

He adds: “[CTAA has] completely changed the nature and composition of traffic coming to Cape Town. SAA had gradually withdrawn its long-haul flights out of Cape Town and the city came up with a strategy to bring back long-distance flights. “Cape Town is a very desirable destination in its own right, so why should it suffer just because SAA didn’t want anyone to bypass Joburg?”

Most of the new long-haul and regional routes are year-round, such as those operated by United Airlines and Delta in the US, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. Others, such as Virgin Atlantic, Edelweiss, Condor and Norse, are seasonal operators.

Birns says airlines’ route decisions are all about “having the right demand at the right price to deliver a feasible yield”. Smaller provincial airports don’t warrant long-haul flights, nor do they have the facilities to land large aircraft.

Another aspect that has reshaped the landscape for Joburg as a destination is that many Middle East carriers have developed a footprint across the region and are flying directly from Doha to Lusaka, for instance.

You can see development everywhere. Even the ports look a bit different; some of the infrastructure is better

—  Shai Weiss

“With Qatar having taken a 25% stake in Airlink last August, there’s going to be closer commercial alignment of the destinations in the region they both serve,” says Birns. This would entail a mutual recognition of their respective frequent flyer programmes and the scheduling of some regional flights to provide for convenient onward connections.

Other airlines are considering year-round flights to Cape Town — and it’s not only about tourism and hospitality. Virgin Atlantic Global CEO Shai Weiss tells the FM he sees a stronger business dynamic in Cape Town now than when he was last in South Africa six years ago, which raises the prospect of year-round direct flights by the airline from London.

At present Virgin runs direct flights to Joburg all year round, but only seasonal flights to Cape Town over the domestic holiday season. Should these flights be seen as financially viable, they will start only from 2027, because the correct aircraft would need to be sourced.

Weiss says Cape Town looks different since his last visit, and says there is a sense of renewal. “It’s cleaner, there’s more business. I liken what’s happening in Cape Town to the migration to the south in the US, with people moving from Chicago and New York to Miami.” He adds that there’s a young population in the Cape that wants to do better, and a start-up mentality accompanied by technology and services.

Weiss says besides Cape Town being a beautiful city and having fantastic food and amazing people, “there’s something bigger … you can see development everywhere. Even the ports look a bit different; some of the infrastructure is better.” Weiss has been in discussions with Western Cape premier Alan Winde about business and trade links and about enhancing connectivity with London.

Virgin is known for being an innovative carrier and it was among the first to offer a flatbed and a TV at the back of each seat, as well as a premium cabin.

But the industry is more competitive than ever. The Middle East carriers have become world leaders, with major hubs in Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi positioning lower-cost flights with huge fleets.

The industry has also changed significantly over the past 40 years, since the first Virgin route was set up between Gatwick and New York. Says Weiss: “We now view ourselves not just as an airline to get from point A to B, but as a travel, entertainment and hospitality company.”

Virgin — 51% owned by Richard Branson (once the poster child for entrepreneurial Britain) and 49% by Delta — also sells holidays and excursions, but the brand is best known locally for flights. “The way to compete is to create a web of like-minded companies. We have 17 code shares throughout the world, connecting 1,000 cities,” says Weiss. (Code sharing is an agreement between two or more airlines to share the same flight. It can be a single flight operated by one airline, or multiple flight numbers by different partner airlines.) Weiss adds that there is a premium to flying direct without the need to connect.

Virgin Atlantic first flew from London’s Gatwick Airport to Newark in New York in June 1984. Now, 40 years later, it flies to 30 destinations worldwide. Close to 70% of Virgin’s connectivity is over the Atlantic between the UK and the US. The carrier has been flying between Heathrow and Joburg for 28 years. In addition to providing a direct connection, it transports fish and fresh produce to the UK in the underbelly of its planes.

Weiss says consumers are increasingly interested in the personalisation of service. “The things that change their lives are the joint experiences, seeing the world differently and connecting with human beings”.

He says Branson is still very much involved in the airline. “I’ve worked with him for 20 years, so I know him extremely well. I would say, and he would say, the crown jewel remains Virgin Atlantic. He doesn’t run the airline on a day-to-day basis, but he’s iconic. I call him the master of the zeitgeist; he always understands what’s going on, he taps into the sense of the people, he is able to connect with the motifs in the marketplace and what we can provide. He’s always challenging the status quo, always pushing us to be better.”