Cape Town Air Access (CTAA) announced on Monday that December had seen a monthly record number of two-way international passengers passing through Cape Town International Airport (CTIA). These passengers numbered 317 000. The previous record, set in January 2020, had been 290 000.

It was estimated that these 317 000 travellers had boosted the Western Cape economy by almost R1.9-billion in direct tourism spending. This helped economic growth and preserved jobs.

The number of two-way international passengers which passed through CTIA during the whole of last year came to 2.8-million. This was again a new record, surpassing the 2.6-million figure for the previous record year, 2019, which was the last year before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2023 total was also nearly twice that of the 1.5-million passengers recorded in 2013, meaning that two-way international passenger traffic through CTIA had increased by almost 100% in ten years.

“We are thrilled to witness such a remarkable increase in passenger numbers at [CTIA],” enthused Wesgro CEO and official CTAA spokesperson Wrenelle Stander. “This achievement reflects the ongoing efforts of the [CTAA] partnership to enhance the Western Cape’s global connectivity, elevated by the continuing excellence of ACSA’s [Airport Company South Africa’s] Cape Town team in running a world-class airport.”

The CTAA is a public-private partnership initiative, led by Wesgro, which, in turn, is the Western Cape provincial trade, tourism and investment promotion agency. On the public side, national government agencies, such as ACSA, and the City of Cape Town are also partners in CTAA.

“The continued hard work of the [CTAA] team has been crucial in attracting more flights to the Western Cape,” highlighted provincial Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister Mireille Wenger. “The record-breaking number of passengers and resultant foreign direct spend will ultimately increase economic opportunities and jobs for the people of the province. We welcome this news with open arms because more tourists mean more jobs.”

“We are very pleased with the passenger growth because of the positive impact on tourism and trade, the economy and job creation,” affirmed ACSA regional GM: CTIA Cluster Mark Maclean. “I thank all passengers and visitors for their cooperation and support when visiting the airport. We will now focus on the coming weeks as passengers return home, and the remainder of the peak season. We are forecasting continued high passenger volumes as our visitors enjoy the summer.”