Cape Town International Airport ready for travellers following inspection

On Friday 18 September Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier and City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management James Vos visited the Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) to assess the readiness of the airport ahead of the relaxation of the restrictions on international travel under Level 1. The pair had some good news to report — which will no doubt give the tourism industry a boost. 

While President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the go-ahead for international travel just two days ago, the Western Cape government says the Cape Town International Airport has had good practice for an influx of travellers.  

CAPE TOWN AIRPORT READY FOR TRAVELLERS 

Since the recommencement of inter-provincial leisure travel in August 2020, domestic flights to and from Cape Town have seen a considerable increase with the three airlines currently serving the Cape Town International Airport; Airlink, FlySafair and Mango, providing a combined frequency of 314 domestic flights a week, which is an increase of 74% month-on-month. 

Together with the continued strict adherence to safety measures, this is a positive sign of the readiness of the Cape Town International Airport to welcome international travellers to Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Cape Town International Airport General Manager Deon Cloete led a tour of the airport on Friday highlighting the important steps taken to ensure operational readiness, including a demonstration of the new thermal screening devices which are being trialled as a contactless way of screening those entering the airport. The thermal cameras can potentially assist in tracking the temperature of high volumes of people walking through the airport terminals.

TRAVEL-READY IN THE WESTERN CAPE 

Maynier said the Western Cape is open and it is ready to welcome travellers from around the world. 

“Since we re-opened for inter-provincial travel we have shown that our tourism and hospitality sector has implemented the necessary health guidelines and, together with the WTTC Safety Stamp, that we are ‘Travel Ready’ in the Western Cape,” he said.  

“We look forward to the opportunity to safely connect to more global destinations and welcome visitors to our world-class and affordable experiences in Cape Town and the Western Cape. Finally, I would like to extend our gratitude to the airline industry and applaud their resilience and continued effort towards recovery in the sector,” he added. 

Vos said his Tourism Task Team has devised and is now implementing, the Tourism Bounce-Back-Strategy to ensure Cape Town’s tourism and related sectors get back on their feet as soon as possible. 

“This strategy includes the marketing and communications approach for our six pillars – to Visit, Live, Work, Study, Play & Invest in Cape Town. Our domestic campaigns will target locals and market Cape Town as a quality and affordable destination. I am confident that with the initiatives we have developed, we will recover from this crisis, and come back stronger than before,” said Vos. 

Cloete said they see an average of 50 flights a day operate from the Cape Town International airport, with Friday usually being its busiest day. 

“This is significantly stepped up since we first opened our doors in June under Alert Level 3 conditions where there were only six flights a day. We have worked hard to ensure that the airport is able to safely facilitate passengers and are pleased with the results,” he said.