As South Africa readies itself for another bumper festive season and people start winding down for the holidays, airports around the country are bracing for an influx of visitors.
On just three days over the festive period, more than 110 000 tourists are expected to pass through OR Tambo, King Shaka International, and Cape Town International airports.
While tourism and migration statistics for November are scheduled for release this week, the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is already experiencing its peak season.
This started at the end of October and will run until the end of March 2024. The group is now ramping up to ensure smooth operations and a seamless travel experience during the busy December-January time frame, said chief executive Mpumi Mpofu.
“We’re ready to face the festive season and I’m confident our carefully planned response to the massive numbers of passengers who’ll be passing through our airport network is more than adequate to ensure a safe and comfortable journey for holidaymakers.”
These are the busiest days and weeks expected at the country’s major airports during the festive season:
OR Tambo International
- Busiest period: December 11 to 17.
- Busiest day: Monday – 577 aircraft with 58 042 passengers set to arrive and depart from the airport.
Cape Town International
- Busiest period: January 1 to 7.
- Busiest day: January 1 – 264 aircraft carrying 32 750 passengers will arrive and depart.
King Shaka International
- Busiest period: December 11 to 17.
- Busiest day: December 14 – 131 aircraft carrying 19 602 passengers will arrive and depart.
Mpofu said Acsa has seen a steady recovery over the past three years, with a growth of 83 % in passenger numbers and 87% in air traffic movements as of the end of October. There has also been an 18 % increase in passenger numbers and 9% rise in air traffic movements since 2022.
“In all three of our market segments – domestic, regional, and international – new routes and route expansions by local and foreign airlines continue to support the recovery of passenger traffic. This is evident from the fact that in FY2022/23, the overall growth of 33% in capacity led to a 50% increase in passenger traffic.
“Globally, the recovery in air traffic continued to be firm, which supported our own recovery. By the end of March 2023, industry-wide revenue passenger kilometres – a measure of air passenger traffic, increased by 52.4% year-on-year and reached 88 % of March 2019 levels.”
Mpofu noted that ACSA’s three main airports – OR Tambo International, Cape Town International, and King Shaka International – continue to account for 85% of all air passenger traffic in South Africa, with OR Tambo International accounting for 49% of all departing traffic.
Regional inland airports such as Upington, Kimberley, and Bram Fischer (Bloemfontein) continue to record good recovery rates, mainly as a result of slow normalisation in business travel and the core ‘visiting friends and relatives’ segment.
Coastal airports are more reliant on leisure traffic and have thus not fared as well due to a significant reduction in leisure travel because of the increases in ticket prices as well as the impact high inflation and interest rates had on discretionary spending.
The Mercury