Cape Town Air Access Team extends a warm welcome to 250 delegates from across the globe, as specialists in the aviation sector gather in the Mother City for the third AviaDev Africa Conference.
Dedicated to growing connectivity to, from and within the African continent, the conference brings together airports, airlines, tourism authorities, governments and industry suppliers under one roof. Boasting a world class conference programme and pre-arranged meeting system, the platform provides delegates with an unrivalled networking opportunity.
With Cape Town playing host to the conference for the first time Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris, commented: “The International Air Transport Association (IATA) have identified that the top 10 fastest growing aviation economies over the next 20 years will all be in Africa. Better air connectivity has boosted trade in goods and services as well as tourism. We are excited to host the conference and be a part of facilitating growth in this sector, further validating Cape Town as the gateway to the rest of Africa.”
The programme kicks off this evening with Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille and Premier Helen Zille addressing delegates at the official Welcoming Reception. The conference will follow with a series of talks from key aviation industry players.
For the full speaker line-up, see here: https://www.event.benchevents.
Premier Helen Zille said: “The Air Access initiative has been critical to attracting investment. In the last year alone, we have seen 20% growth in international terminal passengers at the Airport with an estimated R4bn in direct tourism spending added to the economy of the Western Cape. Our vision remains to not only make the Western Cape the gateway to the rest of Africa, but the easiest place to do business on the continent. We will continue building strategic partnerships that create jobs and drive economic growth,” said Premier Zille.
Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, further elaborated: “Cape Town as the events capital of Africa is indeed excited to be hosting key players in the aviation industry at a time when we are looking to capitalise on the expected growth in connectivity in Africa. One of the key goals of the Air Access team is to grow the number of flights between Cape Town and the rest of Africa in line with the City of Cape Town’s Enhanced African Agenda. This conference will be a welcomed boost to all of our efforts where we can forge relations and share knowledge to ensure that we bring the Africa Rising narrative to life by increasing flights, making it easier for investors to do businesses in our respective African regions and growing our respective economies. For the City of Cape Town we want to make sure the world knows that we are open for business and are committed to doing what we can to make sure they can land on our shores and experience the wealth of potential our city has to offer.”
Having secured 13 new routes and 17 route expansions, adding over 1,5 million two-way seats to Cape Town International Paul van den Brink, Air Access’s Project Manager, said: “Quarter 1 of this year shows a positive 12% growth from the rest of Africa into Cape Town International Airport, this is the highest growth recorded compared to inbound flights from other continents. With access to key aviation decision makers, we look forward to finding synergies and navigating more routes from Cape Town to the rest of Africa.”
Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, commented: “Expanding air access between Cape Town and the rest of Africa is integral to developing our economy and creating new jobs. This conference brings together all of the people who have the expertise and experience in these areas to network in Cape Town. We welcome the delegates to our province and we hope that their discussions are productive.”
“We are delighted to bring AviaDev to Cape Town, particularly given our previous host Rwanda – who has since established a direct flight to Cape Town via Harare, the product of a discussion that took place at AviaDev 2017. I am delighted that this forum truly does connect and foster route development for Africa,” added Jon Howell, Managing Director of AviaDev.
