International flights into Durban reach new heights, says King Shaka

Tourism was booming over the festive season.

So much so that King Shaka International Airport reported most airlines had operated at near full capacity on both local and international flights.

Comparing December of 2018 to 2019, the number of passenger arrivals had increased from 553 000 to 616 000, ranking King Shaka as the fastest-growing South African airport.

Hamish Erskine, CEO of Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone and co-chair of Durban Direct said the growth was a direct result of constant teamwork between their airline partners and tourism authorities, provincial and local government, including other parties which form part of the Durban Direct initiative.

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Durban Direct has secured six new routes in as many years since the route development programme was first launched in August of 2014, connecting Durban to over 700 global destinations.

Acting CEO of KZN Tourism and co-chair of Durban Direct, Phindile Makwakwa said that successful marketing campaigns as part of a partnership with British Airways and other markets had improved the attractiveness of the province as a tourist destination.

Domestic growth however showed the larger increase at 12 percent, while international increased by nine percent compared to figures from 2018.

Nonetheless, the figures are in and show that the airport had exceeded the average growth rate for the region.

Respectively, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Zimbabwe ranked as the top three KZN-bound tourism sources.

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Air cargo through Durban also saw a 47 percent growth for 2019.

This follows increased capacity in Durban’s airfreight market as British Airways operated three flights a week to London.

Qatar Airways introduced a larger Airbus A350 on the Durban-Doha route, with Emirates introducing an additional four flights a week from mid-June to early August 2019 in response to the growing passenger demand for travel during that period.

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