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Cape Town - Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) served just over 10 million passengers during last year - highlighting the airport's tremendous growth during the previous twelve months.

In an announcement on Tuesday, 10 January, the airport described the achievement as a major milestone.

CTIA is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa. In 2015, the airport counted in excess of the 9.4 million passengers which passed through its doors.

In 2016, four days before the start of the New Year, CTIA hit the 10-million mark.

Passengers arriving at the airport on 28 December 2016 were notified that one of them would likely be the 10 millionth passenger to pass through the Western Cape airport in a single year. While it might have been just another journey for passengers passing through the airport, it was a major achievement for Cape Town as a whole.

According to Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities in the Western Cape, “The Cape Town International Airport has hit its biggest milestone yet, highlighting once again that it is a major asset not only for those who pass through it but for jobs and growth in our economy."

"Through partnerships with strong role-players like the airport, tourism to the Western Cape is on the charge. This is in line with our Project Khulisa growth strategy, through which we are seeking to create up to 100 000 additional tourism jobs in our region.”

The partnerships, also known as the Cape Town Air Access initiative which includes the Western Cape Provincial Government, the City of Cape Town, Wesgro and Cape Town Tourism and ACSA are constantly looking for new opportunities to pursue more direct flights and frequencies from strategic markets into Cape Town.

So far, they've done a tremendous job at securing more air access to the Mother City.

The Cape Town Air Access initiative has assisted in adding an additional 538 000 two-way direct seats to Cape Town since inception across the July 2015 to December 2016 period, which has contributed greatly to the growth of CTIA.

SEE: New SA flight routes travellers can take advantage of in 2017

According to Deon Cloete, GM of CTIA, “Reaching the 10 million passengers per year mark is an important milestone for ACSA and for the Western Cape region, as CTIA is a critical gateway for the continuing growth of domestic and international tourism to the Western Cape and we have seen solid passenger volume growth over the past few years.”

Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille also commended the airport and other stakeholders saying, “the CTIA ensure that visitors experience a world-class city from the moment that they set foot on our soil.

"We see the increase in frequency and creation of flights to Cape Town as a key driver of economic development in the region that has a major impact across all key sectors because this means increased opportunities for our residents.”



In 2016, SKYTRAX awarded CTIA as the Best Airport in Africa for the 5-10 million passenger category, and the airport currently has a Global Ranking of 22nd in the World’s top 35 Airports.

Most recently, the airport was also named the most-punctual airport in South Africa according to the global AirlineRatings.com platform.

SEE: 3 SA airports listed as world's most punctual

Recent stats reveal that in 2016, 86.06% of the flights arriving or departing at Cape Town International Airport did so within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, scoring the airport the title of the most-punctual of all SA's major airports like OR Tambo International and King Shaka International.





A photo posted by Cape Town Int'l Airport (@capetownairport) on Oct 20, 2016 at 1:56am PDT







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