Eurowings flight a vote of confidence

THE WESTERN Cape will greatly benefit from a new direct air route to Cape Town by Eurowings, which will be a welcome boost to the regions tourism numbers, job creation and economy, just ahead of the busy festive season.

Wesgro, Cape Town and the Western Cape’s official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency, announced the launch of the new route at an event held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town this week.

The agency said the first Eurowings flight landed at Cape Town International Airport on Monday.

The new route will be serviced by an Airbus A330-300 with 21 seats in Best, 46 in More Comfort and 243 in Basic class which will see the once-a-week flight depart from Cologne on Sundays and return from Cape Town on Mondays.

The Eurowings brand is a newly established, independent low-cost airline modelled on its successful partner Germanwings, and offers excellent value for money in the European airline business.

Eurowings, part of the Lufthansa group and the launch of the new flight from Cologne to Cape Town follows the introduction of a direct connection from Frankfurt by Lufthansa Airlines last year, the expansion of the Zurich-Cape Town route by Edelweiss Air this year and the recently announced Vienna-Cape Town route by Austrian Airlines which launches next year.

The new route was established with the help of Cape Town Air access, a partnership between Wesgro, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape government, Airports Company SA, Cape Town Tourism and SA Tourism.

Wesgro chief executive Tim Harris said it was an excellent new development in what had been a string of new direct flights to Cape Town announced recently by Lufthansa.

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said the increase in direct flights was encouraging and a vote of confidence in the city.

Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said the launch of the route was a great way to celebrate the start of the region’s peak tourism season and also illustrated the economic benefits of air access.