Fly Mango connecting Nelson Mandela Bay with Lanseria International Airport
According to South African Tourism, this will further expand and diversify Port Elizabeth’s destination offering in their quest to build a true industrial, lifestyle and living city.
Mango Airlines has launched a new route from Lanseria International Airport to Port Elizabeth. From 11 July, Fly Mango will operate two flights a day between Nelson Mandela Bay’s Port Elizabeth Airport and Lanseria International airport aboard the Boeing 737-800 series. The service is expected to capture a mix of visiting family and relatives (VFR), business and leisure travellers originating from Greater Johannesburg, the Gauteng province and beyond. Lanseria International Airport offers a gateway to the North, which covers the Cradle of Humankind and Sun City.
According to South African Tourism, this will further expand and diversify Port Elizabeth’s destination offering in their quest to build a true industrial, lifestyle and living city. “From the onset, our Airlift strategy identified Lanseria as one of the low-hanging opportunities, and within one year, we have managed to secure the air travel link. Furthermore, we understand that airlift is critical for a seamless flow of trade and tourism, thus our Airlift strategy has identified Kruger Mpumalanga including the catchment, Zimbabwe, and Namibia as the potential markets the collective (the City, ECDC, Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, and ACSA) will be pursuing to link with Nelson Mandela Bay in the next 12 to 24 months.”
The addition of a new destination is a result of a collaborative airlift work between the City, Eastern Cape Development Corporation, Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Lanseria International Airport and Airports Company South Africa, operated by Mango Airlines to offer travellers an alternative point linking Gauteng with Nelson Mandela Bay.
Marelize Labuschagne, acting CEO at Mango Airlines said, “We are very excited to finally launch this route – an enormous amount of work has been done to increase our network out of Lanseria. This additional route is a win for both cities, and Mango is privileged to be a part of boosting local tourism. At a time when our economy needs stimulating, Mango has set its sights on unlocking the immense social and economic value that tourism provides.”
Marelize added, “We are expecting that the route will capture a combination of business and leisure travellers originating from the Southern and Northern parts of Johannesburg, the wider Gauteng province and beyond. Port Elizabeth is the gateway to the Garden Route and a highly populated tourist area so we are expecting this to be a popular network choice.”
Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture Executive Director at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Anele Qaba, said, “Access to Nelson Mandela Bay and the cost thereof were identified as barriers to tourism and economic growth within the region. To unlock the full tourism potential, air access needed to be prioritised in order to make it easier and more affordable for visitors to explore Nelson Mandela Bay.”
South African Tourism Acting CEO, Sthembiso Dlamini, said, “With Quarter 1 of 2019 showing favourable growth on the domestic travel front, the latest Mango route will further enhance our plans to increase domestic travel. When compared to this period last year, holidays trips have increased by 60,5 per cent and I am confident that the latest route between Lanseria International Airport and Port Elizabeth Airport will influence these figures positively. This route is a great opportunity to showcase the wonderful tourism experiences and products of the Eastern Cape and Nelson Mandela Bay areas with the region growing as an Ocean Safari destination.”
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