Airports Company South Africa, Cape Town International Airport, saw an increase in the movement at the airport compared to last year. For the calendar year of 2011  the overall passenger numbers have grown by 4.05%.

For the month of December passenger movement showed an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period last year with a total of over 813 000 arriving and departing passengers in Cape Town. The month of December saw over 330 000 Domestic arriving passengers, marking a 4.5% increase. International arriving passenger numbers for the month of December showed an impressive increase of 17.07% compared to the same period last year while International departing passenger numbers grew by more than 16% compared to last year.

Total arriving passengers grew by 7.15% compared to last year with total departures growing by 6%.

“As always and particularly at this time of the year the airport was and still is abuzz with activity, with on average 13 930 arriving passengers and 12 320 departing passengers daily”, said Deborah Francis, Senior Communications Officer, Cape Town International Airport.  “Of those amounts given, the region welcomed on average 2730 International guests on a daily basis during December, together with airport partners, stringent operational plans with contingencies were put in place to ensure a positive experience at the gateway of the City ”, added Francis.

Given that the holiday season is still alive in Cape Town, remember to arrive early for flights and for extra convenience use the online check-in system to reduce queueing time.