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Yolande Stander
In a massive boost for Plettenberg Bay tourism and economic growth, the first scheduled flights between the popular holiday destination and two major city centres took to the sky yesterday.
"Market research revealed that there was a major demand for flights to and from Plettenberg Bay, Johannesburg and especially Cape Town and therefore we decided to officially launch scheduled flights on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between Plett and the two cities today [Friday]," CemAir chief financial officer Laura van der Molen said.
Van der Molen said CemAir, an established aircraft owner and operator, conducted a lot of research into gauging the viability of such a service, but that the response from residents and visitors had been "overwhelming". "So far more than 2 000 people have responded to our survey and our research is ongoing."
Because "leisure is the area's bread and butter" Van der Molen said they decided to first introduce flights over weekends. "Our intention is to perhaps in the future include weekday flights aimed at businessmen and -women who commute between the Garden Route and the country's business centres."
She added that the initiative had already been well received among travelers with more than 300 bookings made the first weekend of flights.
Van der Molen said she believed that the flights would not only boost tourism in the area, but because it linked Plett with business hubs, economic growth could also be expected.
Plettenberg Bay Tourism chairman Bruce Richardson said scheduled flights were a game changer for the area. "How many more foreign tourists will come here and buy properties in Plett, how many retired people will come and live here and the benefits go on and on, just because traveling here becomes more convenient. These groupings I call grade A residents - they come here, bring money and don't take jobs, but create employment. Also, how many businesses will actually locate offices in
Plett due to easy access in and out of town," Richardson said.
"It’s good for tourism, more airlift always benefits the destination. The introduction of this flight service is great news for consumers as additional flights create better pricing,” Western Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism Alan Winde said.
Bitou municipal spokesman Kholiswa Masiza said the municipality requested an inspection by the South African Civil Aviation Authority, who sent two inspectors to assess the readiness of the airport to handle such a service. "The runway and verge were found to be in good condition and the fire services were provided with equipment checklists and vehicle requirements for the vehicles which will be on-station to prior to landing until after take-off," Masiza said.
CemAir has had success with a similar service, running a five-day a week scheduled service between Margate on the Kwazulu Natal South Coast and the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
"When we did our survey for Margate in October last year, we realised that there are a lot of people who have homes in the coastal areas, but live in Gauteng. Many of them hardly ever go there anymore due to the long travel hours and inconvenience to do so," CemAir marketing manager Nicolene Myburgh said.
"We realised that we have the equipment in terms of aircraft to make these smaller areas more accessible to these people to allow them the opportunity to breakaway more often or travel for businesses more conveniently."
The company operates both domestically and internationally on a scheduled and non-scheduled basis and owns a fleet of 10 Beechcraft 1900 twin turbo-propeller aircraft and three Canadair CRJ regional jets. CemAir currently runs a five-day a week scheduled service between OR Tambo and Sishen in the Northern Cape, OR Tambo and Lephalale in Limpopo and OR Tambo and Margate
