"We are extremely excited to launch this new route. As a brand, FlySafair is passionate about sharing not only our love of flying, but also our love of all the beauty South Africa has to offer," said Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.
"South Africa is fast returning to its status as a tourism hotspot. According to an official government report, the country welcomed 2.1 million international visitors in Q1 of 2023 alone, just 21.5% lower than 2019 while local travel levels surpassed pre-Covid numbers. However, the distribution of these arrivals has not been equal.
"The vast majority of international visitors spent their time in either Gauteng or the Western Cape. While business travel may account for some of this, the concerted efforts of Cape Town Tourism have made major moves in shifting perceptions around important topics like safety in the province, a top contributing factor to their recent success," Gordon adds.
Introducing additional flight capacity to this route could be a big step towards encouraging tourists to add more items to their itinerary, says Gordon, as well as opening up faraway destinations to local tourists without the hassle and expense of multiple connections or extremely long drives.
"We are excited to have the opportunity to bring the opposite corners of South Africa closer together, giving everyone an affordable way to do both the bush and the beach. Unfortunately, the inconvenience of multiple flights has led visitors to take an either-or approach to travel in South Africa. Hopefully, having a low-cost air travel option can help change this and encourage visitors to book even longer stays," says Gordon.
To commemorate the inaugural flight, FlySafair hosted an event attended by government officials, tourism stakeholders, and key members of the FlySafair team. Discussions revolved around the future of tourism in the area and the collaborative efforts needed to drive industry growth.
"Improving the tourism industry and encouraging more exploration of our country is something which will benefit all of us. Events like this are important in that they give us the chance to come together and find more ways to pool our resources to grow the industry together," concludes Gordon.
Operating twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the route offers a total travel time of 2.5 hours.
