The new route is a natural progression from the launch of its connection between Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) and KMIA in April of this year.
As with that route, the Johannesburg to Nelspruit route is intended to enable international tourists to reach prime South African tourist destinations more easily, with the Kruger National Park being a firm favourite.
''With this new route, we want to make it easier for our customers to reach the destinations of their choice as smoothly as possible,'' explains Kirby Gordon, chief marketing officer at FlySafair.
FlySafair's new route benefits its interline partners like KLM, Air France, Qatar, Emirates, and others, facilitating seamless bookings from international flights to KMIA-bound flights on FlySafair.
Furthermore, the new route and these agreements are another step by the airline to foster growth in the South African economy.
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), South African travel and tourism's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is set to drive the national economic recovery. The WTTC’s Economic Impact Report predicts that the South African travel and tourism sector will grow at an average rate of 7.6% annually over the next decade, vastly outpacing the 1.8% growth rate of the country’s overall economy.
''It has become abundantly clearer that travel and tourism is a driving force of economic growth in the country. Our beautiful country has significant attractions for tourists, with the Kruger National Park being particularly highly ranked. Thus, it makes sense to create new routes so that tourists can have ready access to prime attractions like Cape Town and the Kruger National Park,'' explains Gordon.
Both the Cape Town to Mpumalanga route and this latest link from Johannesburg are key to continuing the positive momentum that South Africa's tourism sector has been enjoying this year.
According to Statistics South Africa, tourist arrivals have increased 15.4% from January to March this year, when compared with the same period in 2023, bringing 2.4 million tourists to our shores in just those three months.
Furthermore, as reported by sagoodnews.co.za, the sector’s contribution to GDP could reach more than R554.6bn (7.4% of the total economy), in the next eight years. This would give the country's economy a much-needed boost of almost R287nm.
‘’This route is not only good business sense for us as an airline, but also yet another way FlySafair is demonstrating our continued commitment to playing our part in building our country's critical travel and tourism sector,'' concludes Gordon.
