New figures show that Cape Town International Airport helps city economy soar

STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALDERMAN JAMES VOS

As a big fan of flying, I know the rush of soaring through the skies. And the new figures from Cape Town International Airport make it clear that aviation helps the city’s economy to reach greater heights. 

In Cape Town, the aviation economy is a crucial driver of economic growth. According to the latest data, the airport helped funnel just under R14 billion into Cape Town in 2019 while supporting over 28 000 jobs.

This is why it’s so significant when the airport is acknowledged on the global stage, as it was recently, when it won the Skytrax Best Airport in Africa Award for the sixth consecutive year. These awards represent the industry gold standard and therefore gives airlines the confidence to add the Mother City to their routes. It is also a recognition of our economic and destination readiness as a city.

It was my great honour to present a plaque to the airport team on behalf of the City to congratulate them for the accolade. It has been my privilege to work closely with the team at Cape Town International Airport who have been at the core of opening up our city to the world.

It is clearly critical that we focus our efforts on getting Cape Town’s aviation industry back to its pre-pandemic altitude. It is for this reason that the City of Cape Town has directed funding to the Air Access initiative. Through Air Access, 19 new routes connecting Cape Town International Airport to the world were established prior to the pandemic, and 1,5 million passenger seats added.

I am delighted to confirm that we have seen the return of several airlines to Cape Town International Airport in recent months, including Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Turkish Airlines while British Airways is scheduled to return to Cape Town from November.

Connectivity forms part of the City’s Tourism Development Framework and our objective is to connect Cape Town with key destinations in Africa and globally.

Connecting Cape Town to more cities and countries translates into bums on seats. This means that we can welcome more visitors, creates more jobs through tourism and also provides trade opportunities to export more proudly Cape Town products to the rest of the world.

The future is indeed bright and I look forward to seeing Cape Town’s aviation industry fly higher than ever!