Finally, King Shaka takes off

According to the data, there was a three percent increase in the number of British travellers to South Africa during November 1 to December 23, 2015.

According to the data, there was a three percent increase in the number of British travellers to South Africa during November 1 to December 23, 2015.

Published Aug 5, 2013

Share

Durban - Direct SA Express flights from Durban’s King Shaka International Airport to Mozambique, Botswana and Nambia had been approved, the company’s chief executive, Inati Ntshanga, announced in Zambia at the weekend.

All three flight routes could be in operation as early as March, he said in an interview in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Ntshanga said the direct flight from Durban to Maputo was likely to be the first route to take off as Mozambique was closest to KwaZulu-Natal.

Negotiations for air traffic and landing rights were also under way for a slot in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“We need the capacity and aircraft. We also need pilots for the new routes,” Ntshanga said. “This will reduce flying via Johannesburg – making it quicker for Durban’s customers.”

SA Airlink (an independent and private airline) already flies between Durban and Maputo, but, Ntshanga says, “we want to offer reasonable prices”.

Ntshanga was part of a government and business delegation to Zambia for the official launch of the Durban-Lusaka route. SA Express flights between the two cities have been operating for more than a year.

The routes he announced are part of a deal with Dube TradePort and the provincial government to establish a Southern African route network out of King Shaka airport, making it a secondary hub to Joburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.

“Zambia is KwaZulu-Natal’s most significant and largest trading partner in Africa. Exports from our province to Zambia in 2012 were valued at R2.47-billion and represented a pleasing 14.8 percent of KZN’s total exports into Africa,” said KwaZulu-Natal’s Economic Development and Tourism MEC, Michael Mabuyakhulu, who added that Zambia and South Africa had recorded an estimated trade value of about R25bn.

At the Lusaka, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Zambian chamber signed a memorandum of understanding to increase trade and tourism between the two regions.

Mabuyakhulu said the government was negotiating with neighbouring countries, which he would not name, for direct flights from Durban.

Inhibitor

He said SA Express’s direct flights from Durban to Lusaka would be increased if there was a demand. “We want to … grow this route far bigger than it is currently. We started with three a week and increased it to four… We would love to see it being daily… but it will depend on passenger throughput.”

Mabuyakhulu suggested that a route from Durban to Lusaka and on to Ndola (the heart of Zambia’s copperbelt) was also likely. With a direct route there was also more opportunity for people from South Africa’s other coastal cities to use Durban to reach Zambia.

Durban chamber president Akash Singh said it was time business “seizes the opportunity and works even harder at increasing the current R2bn cross-border trade” between the two regions. He said market access was the single biggest inhibitor. - The Mercury

Related Topics: