Following media reports that dozens of flights have been cancelled in the last week due to reintroduced curfews, I have written to National Government asking for the curfew to be reconsidered.

Many airlines have late flights and will be in contravention of the new COVID-19 regulations if the curfew is not reconsidered. This will cost many jobs and affect thousands of travel plans at a time when our economy cannot afford another setback.

Failing which, for the airline industry to be exempted because currently, we are seeing large volumes of cancellations across domestic carriers that will have negative consequences for the entire aviation industry value chain.

In Cape Town, the aviation economy is a crucial driver of economic growth. Currently, we are recording on average 110 flights per day at Cape Town International Airport while adhering to COVID-19 protocols.

Airlift forms part of the City’s Tourism Development Framework to connect Cape Town with key destinations in the country and globally. Connecting Cape Town to more cities and countries translates into bums on seats and boxes in the belly.  This means that we can welcome more visitors, create more jobs through tourism and also provide trade opportunities for proudly Cape Town products as cargo.

It is important that we work swiftly to prevent large volumes of airlines cancelling their flights because the travel and tourism industries will be the hardest hit as arrivals will decrease.

I am very concerned about the impact it will have on those many sectors that underpin tourism such as accommodation, transportation, restaurants, attractions, etc.

We trust that the National Command Council will heed our plea.  After all, the visitor economy is everyone’s business.

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