Airports will hurt tourism

The huge increases in airport tariffs will hurt the tourism industry and damage a range of specialist export industries that bring much needed new money into the country, says the Cape Chamber of Commerce.

Airport tariffs are set to rise by 161 percent in the next five years and the result, according to the International Air Transport Association, would be the highest airport tariffs in the world.

“What makes the situation even worse is that the highest fees are applied to international flights and those are the ones that are critical for the growth of our economy,” said Mr Michael Bagraim, president of the Chamber.

He pointed out that tariffs for an international passenger arriving in Cape Town would be R262.28 while a passenger on a domestic flights would pay only R96.46.

Source: CBN.co.za