The Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, Dan Plato, said, “The opening of ticket sales in less than two weeks since this exciting new route was announced just shows how eager we are to welcome new visitors to our beautiful city. These extra flights will bring a significant economic boost to the Cape economy, which will have a great benefit for our local communities and our tourism sector. I want to thank our Air Access team for working with United Airlines and all the relevant role-players to make this happen.”
Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said: “This will provide a vital connection to the biggest unserved market for Cape Town, unlocking immense potential for tourism and trade while boosting business and investment ties between the Western Cape and the US market.”
Deon Cloete, the Airport Manager of Cape Town International Airport, said, “We look forward to welcoming the United Airlines Inaugural flight later this year. We value the commitment they have made to Cape Town & the Western Cape. They will be a key partner in the airport value chain and we remain committed to playing our role in enabling and ensuring the sustainability of their route.”
“It is with great pleasure that we welcome United Airlines to our skies and believe that this new route will aid in achieving our tourist arrivals growth targets. This will ultimately contribute towards the creation of more employment opportunities in South Africa,” said Sthembiso Dlamini, Acting Chief Executive Officer of South African Tourism. “Accessibility, cost and ease of travel are important considerations for most international travellers. The introduction of this service between New York and Cape Town has the potential to assist us to meet our objectives to increase the number of visitors from the US to South Africa every year significantly. In 2018, South Africa saw almost 377 000 tourists coming from the US, a 1.7% increase from the previous year.
The new route energises and injects extra impetus into our marketing efforts in the US. This is an opportunity which we are ready to embrace. It will give more tourists from that region an experience they will never forget. We are ready to welcome our American visitors and to share with them our incredible scenery, welcoming people, delicious food, cosmopolitan cities. I congratulate the partners behind this wonderful achievement for their success and bringing a global airline like United to South Africa”, concluded Dlamini.
