Public-private partnership Cape Town Air Access has reported that Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) last month registered its highest number of international air passengers since the restoration of international air travel in October 2020. A total of 125 861 international passengers passed through the airport in February, both inbound and outbound.

This figure represented 52% of the number of such passengers recorded in February 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. This month was already promising to be even better. From March 1 to March 6, CTIA registered 31 445 international passengers (both ways), or 58% of the figure recorded during the same period in 2019.

“Domestic terminal numbers increased considerably between December 2021 and January 2022 – with an increase of 8% -- before dropping slightly in February,” reported Cape Town Air Access. “However, compared to the same period in 2019, the statistics for February 2022 show a total of 479 942 domestic passengers with a recovery rate of 71%. In 2021 the total domestic passenger recovery came to 50% of 2019 figures for a total of 4.2-million passengers. This was significantly higher than the 2020 calendar year, where only a 38% recovery was achieved for a total of 3.2-million passengers.”

Regarding air cargo through CTIA, this had been significantly and adversely affected by the disruption of international flights caused by countries trying to contain Covid-19. “However, the majority of countries are [now] depicting strong year-on-year growth specifically with regards to the air cargo trade with Cape Town," noted the agency.

A particularly strong recovery was recorded in air cargo between Cape Town and the Netherlands last year, which (in tonnage terms) registered a level of 93% of that reported in 2019. This made the Netherlands the top market for Cape Town air cargo last year. In 2019, it had taken second place, after the UK. But in 2021 second place was taken by Germany, which recorded an 83% recovery in comparison to 2019. The UK came third, with a recovery of only 43%, while Spain was in fourth place, its recovery being 91%. China was in fifth place, with a recovery of 79%. In weight terms, the air cargo sent to the Netherlands last year came to 5 810 t, to Germany, 3 113 t, to the UK, 3 108 t, to Spain, 2 605 t, and to China, 2 398 t.

Cape Town Air Access exists to increase the air connectivity of Cape Town in particular and the Western Cape in general. It is a partnership between national agencies (SA Tourism and the Airports Company South Africa), the governments of the Western Cape and City of Cape Town, Western Cape investment and tourism promotion agency Wesgro, Cape Town Tourism, and various private sector entities.