Cape Town International Airport CPT is emerging as a preferred gateway for SA outbound travel, with a growing share of outbound travellers choosing to depart from CAPE town rather than OR Tambo International Airport JNB. This is according to the latest Tourism Trends report by BDO which highlights the increase in arrivals at both airports.
Although air access in Cape Town has increased, this has been to the detriment of JNB. The report revealed that there had not been an increase in the number of international air arrivals to South Africa, just a shift from JNB to CPT.
For the full year 2024, JNB achieved 73 of 2019 overseas arrivals, while CPT achieved 3 growth on 2019 numbers. For the first seven months of 2025, arrivals through CPT were up 21 on the same period in 2019 and 5 up on 2024. JNB ended the seven-month period 21 behind 2019 and 9 up on the same period in 2024.
