jsnydcsa

Sorry Johan, I don't know how to do the "short" quote of the story as a hyperlink.

http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/artic...s-on-the-cards

Direct US-Cape Town flights on the cards?
By: Kim Emmanuel
Direct US-Cape Town flights on the cards?

Direct flights from the United States to Cape Town could be on the cards if lobbying efforts pay off.

Cape Town Air Access had prioritised a non-stop flight between the United States and Cape Town International, Wesgro said on Friday, following a meeting with stakeholders. Cape Town Air Access is a collaboration between the Western Cape Provincial Government, the City of Cape Town, Acsa, Cape Town Tourism and Wesgro.

“The business case for a route to the United States is strong, given that it is the Cape's third-largest tourism source market (200 000 arrivals in 20150, our fifth-largest buyer of Western Cape products, and our largest foreign direct investor,” Wesgro said in a statement.

When questioned by Tourism Update on potential airlines and airports the group was having discussions with, Judy Lain, Chief Marketing Officer of Wesgro, remained tight-lipped saying only: “Miami is a great one we would love.”

Craig van Rooyen, Director of Tour d’Afrique, who attended the meeting, said Miami seemed to be the destination being focused on at the presentation. He added that possible airlines could include American Airlines and United Airlines, while there was also the possibility of approaching Delta Air Lines. “They are definitely approaching all the other airlines to see who would be prepared to fly in here,” said Van Rooyen.

He also pointed out that there was still a long way to go before flights were up and running

“Being a long-haul destination, one of the key challenges is convincing people to take that long-haul flight to South Africa,” said Craig Drysdale, General Manager Global Sales at Thompsons Africa.

Drysdale said a direct flight to an east coast destination would be the better option for a long-haul flight. He added that this would also give the option for itineraries to start in Cape Town and work their way up to the north.

Van Rooyen said any direct flight would increase numbers to the country. “The Miami flight would also open up a lot of South American business,” said van Rooyen.

“The more direct airlines, the better,” said Drysdale.

According to Brett Omdahl from the US Commercial Service, American businesses have shown strong investment numbers for the region and a direct flight would drive exponential growth.

Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro, asked Western Cape businesses to help land this route by assisting with lobbying, sharing data to support the business case, or giving insights into US marketing plans.

Abigail Ellary from Enterprise Florida conveyed strong support for the route, highlighting that Miami was the fourth-largest economy in the United States and that, with over 19 million residents, there was definitely pent-up demand from this market.

Alpha Golf

Pretty doubtful I think. All the business traffic is to JNB, and this would be expensive to operate.

Jasper2009

Agreed. ULH flights are expensive to operate - and as you mention there is more premium traffic to JNB than CPT.

I could see such a route happening if there were an "obvious" US destination (e.g. large concentration of wealthy South Africans in city xyz or close industry ties between that city and CPT), but the way it is I agree it's pretty doubtful.

Cheetah_SA

CPT-MIA is shorter than any of the current JNB-US routes so certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

But as you say it depends on demand of course. (Add to that, from everything I have heard, MIA is a shockingly inefficient airport at which to enter the US.)

SA used to fly a triangular route - JNB-CPT-FLL-JNB - many years ago using a 747. Didn't last long... presumably the demand wasn't sufficient then?

Cheetah_SA

I was intrigued, if not convinced, by this:
If there was a lot of South American business to be had the SA flights to GRU would not be chronically cheap and other routes like EZE would have survived, surely.

It is an anomaly though that despite the comparatively direct routing that a stopover in South America would provide for people from the west coast or southern USA, the timing of the few flights between South America and South Africa currently makes it a very unattractive routing to travel.

Alpha Golf

That wasn't for business reasons, it was because they needed the sea level runway for range.

Cheetah_SA

Ah, of course. Certainly makes for a nicer flight than a refueling stop in Dakar.

OhioExile

MIA to CPT is 7,668 miles
NYC to CPT is 7,810 miles

Only talking about a difference of 142 miles - not enough to change the economics of the flights.