Direct international flights between Durban and London will be a boon for tourism and the economy, but some KwaZulu-Natal tourism bosses say they will not celebrate until the flights actually take off.
The announcement by Dube TradePort that it had signed an agreement with Comair at the weekend has been largely hailed by tourism and business leaders.
The deal would see Comair establish a route between King Shaka International Airport and Gatwick International in London. A regional African network out of Durban was also on the cards, with the first route being to Nairobi.
Linda Pampallis, chief executive officer of tour operator Thompsons Africa, said while it was great news, she wanted to “see it happen first”.
“This is a great development, and it could be amazing if it is pulled off. But we need to ask the question of how committed Comair will be to making this happen.
“There has not been a route to London out of Durban for over a decade. Re-establishing this route will require real commitment. It will take time to build this route, and for it to be sustainable it needs to have sufficient business travellers, which has been an issue out of Durban,” Pampallis added.
Tourism KZN chief executive officer Ndabo Khoza said that although the announcement was exciting, “we would rather get all our ducks in a row, and only market the route once approvals are secured.”
Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Andrew Layman said there was a strong need for a direct flight between Durban and London. “People are getting tired of hopping via Joburg. If Emirates can consider putting a second daily flight to Durban so quickly, then I am sure there is sufficient demand to make a route to the UK viable,” he said.
Grant Pringle, the boss of Hotel Izulu on the North Coast, said direct flights into King Shaka would mean more UK tourists to Ballito and a shorter flight time – cutting out the extra time spent changing flights in Joburg. - The Mercury