Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, is doing its best to increase tourism in the country. Keeping this in mind; several projects have been started including reengineering infrastructure, renovation of tourists’ attractions and expansion of country’s main airports etc. As the soccer world cup 2010 is going to be held in South Africa so thousands of visitors are expected to land on Cape Town International Airport. To keep the good impression on arrivals, government has also expanded and renovated the Cape Town International airport. A number of companies are introducing cheap flights to South Africa.
Introduction of Airport
Cape Town International Airport is the second busiest airport of South Africa and the 3rd busiest airport of Africa. It is located 20 km away from the city center and is the only airport that covers the whole Cape Town Metropolitan areas. Due to its high quality services, Cape Town International Airport has won the Skytrax award among other top airports of Africa. It provides direct flights to several countries in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. A number of companies offer cheap flights to Capetown and this has made it the third busiest airport in South Africa.
History
Cape Town International Airport was constructed in 1954 to replace the previous airport at Wingfield. At start, it only offered two international flights; direct flights to Britain and indirect flights to Britain through Johannesburg. After the fall of apartheid period, the ownership of the airport was given to Airports Company South Africa. With the sun of new century, the airport has started to increase number of passengers year by year.
Terminals
The upper floors of terminal building of Cape Town International Airport are used for departures and lower floors are used by arrivals. The terminal has 10 air bridges in which 5 bridges are used for international flights and remaining 5 are used for domestic flights. The checking is done in central terminal building. The south terminal is used for domestic flights and north leads passengers towards international terminals.
Domestic Flights
Cape Town International Airport deals with several airlines which provide domestic flights around South Africa. The given table shows the airline and its domestic destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
| South African Express | Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, East London, |
| South African Airways | Durban |
| Mango | Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Durban, |
| Kulula.com | Port Eizabeth, Durban, Johannesburg, Lanseria |
| Interlink Airlines | Pretoria-Wonderboom |
| British Airways Operated by Comair | Johannesburg, Durban |
| Airlink | Nelspruit-kruger Mpumalanga, George, Upington, Kimberley |
| 1Time | Porth Ezlibeth, Johannesburg, East London Durban. |
International Flights
Cape Town International Airport also deals with world class international airlines that provide flights to world wide. Below given table will provide you sound information about international airline and destinations.
| Airlines | Destinations |
| Air Seychelles | Mahe |
| Air Berline | Munich |
| Air Mauritius | Maruitius |
| Air Namibia | Windhoek-Eros, Oranjemund, Luderitz, Windhoek-Hosea Kutako |
| British Airways | London-Heathrow |
| Emirates | Dubai |
| Ethihad Airways | Abu Dhabi |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt |
| KLM | Amsterdam |
| Malaysia Airlines | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Kuala Lumpur |
| Qatar Airways | Doha |
| Singapore Airlines | Singapore |
| South African Airways | Durban, Johannesburg |
| South African Express | Bloemfontien, Porth Elizabeth, East London, Maputo, Windhoek-Hosea Kutako, Maputo |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atuturk |
| Virgin Atlantic | London-Heathrow |
How to access the airport
You can easily access to Cape Town International Airport via Car. As, the airport is located just 20 km away from the city centre so it will take almost 20 to 25 minutes to access the airport. Furthermore, you can also use public transport i.e. bus and taxis. Airport provides metered taxis and bus service.
In short, Cape Town International Airport is world class airport due to its top class services. Due to its airport, most of the travelers start and end their South African trip in Cape Town.