Marisa Estivill/Shutterstock.com Tourism has suffered a number of setbacks in the previous couple of years, with the impact of Covid and the near collapse of the national flag carrier. But do you sense there is some light at the end of the tunnel?
We are seeing more signs of recovery and confidence in our markets as some key source markets are opening up to South Africa, with airline partners once again resuming routes to South Africa.
Key source markets for South Africa, such as the rest of the African continent with USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UAE, having already lifted their restrictions. We therefore expect international travel to pick up soon. We recently welcomed the announcement by the British government that South Africa has been removed from their red list.
Earlier this year United Airlines commenced a nonstop daily service between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and O.R. Tambo International Airport, representing an exciting development as this will boost South Africa’s efforts to continue to grow business events and leisure tourists’ arrivals out of North America. Qatar Airways also recently increased their flying frequency into South Africa to a total of 28 weekly flights between Doha and Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town
We welcomed the news that Kenya Airways and SA Airlink have an interline agreement that will widen both airlines’ reach to multiple destinations on the African continent, even as countries begin reopening their borders for travellers. Kenya Airways’ agreement with Airlink will provide its customers with enhanced connectivity via its gateways, Johannesburg and Cape Town, to more than forty cities across Africa.
Under this latest agreement, Kenya Airways customers flying to South Africa will be able to connect with Airlink-operated domestic flights to Windhoek, Durban, Gaborone, Maseru, Pemba, Maputo, Port Elizabeth, among others. Uganda Airlines’ Kampala to Johannesburg route started on May 31st with 4 frequencies per week.
More recently, our national carrier, SAA took back to the skies and started flying not only domestically but to some key regions on the African continent. This is most welcome and will bode well for increasing arrivals from the rest of the African region to South Africa.
Just this month, Etihad Airlines has made an announcement after a year-long absence that they will start flying direct to Johannesburg and Cape Town from November this year with three flights a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays.
As a Destination Marketing Organisation, we […]