Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) was once again awarded the “Best Airport in Africa” at the prestigious 2022 Skytrax World Airport Awards, held in Paris on Thursday night.
It was the seventh consecutive year the airport won this coveted award.
The airport was also awarded the “Best Staff in Africa” and “Cleanest Airport in Africa” awards.
James Vos, Mayco member for economic growth in the City of Cape Town, says the City was proud to be able to work closely with the airport team to produce a world-class facility.
He says the airport is a vital piece of economic infrastructure that positively impacts on employment and business expansion.
“This award is what brings global attention and gives airlines confidence in flying to the Mother City. It is also a show of economic readiness as a city, because connecting Cape Town to more cities and countries means that we can welcome more visitors and create more jobs through tourism and provide trade opportunities to increase export of proudly Cape products to the rest of the world.”
Vos further stresses that the Airport Company of South Africa needs to prioritise the planned expansion of the airport due to the high volumes of passengers and aircraft movements.
“In May, international arrivals reported a recovery of 70% and 82% for domestic arrivals when compared to the same period in 2019,” says Vos.
Mireille Wenger, provincial minister of finance and economic opportunities, congratulated CTIA on the achievement saying the next step is to work with all stakeholders to compete with the best airports in the world.
She says there is clearly a surge in demand for flights to Cape Town, as was seen when United Airlines last week announced its year-round service to the airport.
“As a proud partner of the Air Access programme, we will continue to push hard to increase the number of connections to the Western Cape because more connections mean more tourism, more trade, and more investment opportunities, which are good for economic growth and job creation.”
