More than 80 000 seats have been added to flights between Cape Town and London for the festive season after Virgin Atlantic launched its seasonal LHR-CPT service.
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This includes daily flights between the two cities on VS 479 CPT-LHR and VS 478 LHR-CPT.
‘I am delighted for the return of the 2023/2024 season of this well-loved route between Cape Town and London,’ Marc Harding, country manager for South Africa at Virgin Atlantic, told Southern and East African Tourism Update.
Passengers will also fly on the airline’s most fuel-efficient aircraft, the Boeing 787-9. ‘This service will make it even easier for our customers to travel for business and leisure between South Africa and the United Kingdom, as well as providing seamless connections via Heathrow to Europe and North America.’
It is hoped that with the addition of these seats, the 2023/24 high season will meet or exceed pre-COVID-19 travel figures.
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As per the latest data by Wesgro, the Western Cape Government’s (WCG) trade, investment, and tourism promotion agency, more than 6.8 million two-way international and domestic passengers passed through Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) between January and September this year.
Of these, 1.9 million were international two-way passengers, and 4.9 million were domestic two-way passengers.
This represents a 60% increase in international passengers compared to the same period in 2022, while domestic travellers increased by 14%.
‘We continue to see the impressive growth of tourists coming to the Western Cape. This is extremely exciting and a trend that we anticipate will not only continue but will far exceed all previous summer seasons,’ says Mireille Wenger, the Western Cape minister of finance and economic opportunities.
Other notable insights from the report include:
- Two-way passengers through George Airport increased by 3% year-on-year compared to last year.
- Cape Town recorded a total of 621 238 tourist arrivals by air between January and September this year, of which 89% were international and 11% from Africa.
- Compared to January and September 2019, tourist arrivals (including international tourist arrivals) by air remained at full recovery in September 2023.
- The United Kingdom is still the top source market to Cape Town by air, followed by the United States, Germany, the Netherlands and France.
- The European market is the largest contributor to tourist arrivals in Cape Town. Six of the top 10 source markets originate from Europe.
- The cumulative total of tourist arrivals during the first half of this year represented a full recovery from eight out of the top 10 source markets to Cape Town by air. This includes the UK (105%), the US (142%), Germany (104%), the Netherlands (112%), Italy (109%), India (104%), Canada (104%), and Zimbabwe (178%).
- In September, footfall to 40 participating attractions across the six regions of the Western Cape totalled 571 657 visitors, a 23% increase from 2022.
Additionally, the top five attractions that recorded the highest year-on-year growth rates in September include:
- Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area (385%)
- Robben Island (270%)
- Swartberg Nature Reserve (178%)
- Keurbooms River Nature Reserve (91%)
- Wilderness National Park (72%)
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