The airline will be using its Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which has the capacity to hold 253 customers (42 business class, 24 in premium economy class and 187 in economy class).
“This increased frequency will boost air access to Asia, the fastest growing region in the world. Singapore’s Changi Airport is a major global hub, making it easy to fly to Cape Town from anywhere in the East,” says Tim Harris, Wesgro CEO.
“The benefits of this connectivity are significant. Making it easier to access Cape Town by air, increases the number of visitors to our shores. This will not only boost leisure tourism, a major economic contributor to the Cape economy, but will also help facilitate investment. Indeed businessman and woman will now be able to come and see for themselves the excellent opportunities on offer in the Western Cape.”
"This is the latest in a series of new and expanded direct routes, which have increased international air arrivals by 27% year-on-year. The Cape Town Air Access initiative has played a significant role in boosting air arrivals to our region, and I’d like to commend the team for their continued commitment to growing the Western Cape’s tourism sector, and tourism jobs in our region,” Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, says.
The Cape Town Air Access project’s key objective is to land more direct routes to Cape Town International Airport. Its success has far exceeded expectations. In its two-and-a-half years, it has assisted in landing 10 new routes to Cape Town and now 12 route expansions. This has increased seat capacity into Cape Town International by over 700,000.
Cape Town International Airport has, as a result, shown high international growth figures with passenger numbers up by 23% in the first nine months of 2017. The Asian market is also growing at a doubl- digit figures, with high growth in South East Asia, in particular from Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
