[ad_1]
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has published a new directive allowing multiple airports to open for domestic travel.
The directive, which was released on Wednesday (September 16), does not mention international or regional travel, although President Cyril Ramamphosa is expected to address this issue Wednesday night.
The list of airports that have been opened includes:
- Bram Fischer International Airport;
- Cape Town International Airport;
- East London;
- George Airport;
- Hoedspruit Airport;
- Kimberly Airport;
- King Shaka International Airport;
- Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport;
- Lanseria International Airport;
- Margate Airport;
- Mthatha Airport;
- OR Tambo International Airport;
- Phalaborwa Airport;
- Pietermaritzburg Airport;
- Plettenberg Bay airport
- Polokwane Airport
- Port Elizabeth International Airport;
- Richards Bay Airport;
- Sishen Airport
- Skukuza Airport;
- Upington International Airport.
In a separate directive, Mbalula also clarified that vehicles with set of units are now allowed to carry 100% of their licensed passenger capacity.
The move will be welcomed by the tourism industry ahead of the country’s expected move towards a level 1 lockdown. President Ramaphosa is expected to announce relaxed travel restrictions, including opening the country’s borders for regional travel.
Other expected changes include:
- The elimination of the evening curfew;
- Relief of restrictions on the sale of alcohol;
- Adjusting the limits of meetings, such as church services, increasing instead to a percentage of capacity (that is, 50% of the capacity of a place instead of 50 people);
- The protocols of social distancing, use of masks and hygiene will be maintained.
The Department of Tourism published a draft recovery plan in early August, outlining the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and how the tourism industry is likely to be affected over the next year.
The document provides a detailed breakdown of international and local projections for when tourism is likely to open, using models that take into account various infection patterns and recovery scenarios.
The policy document notes that the reopening of international tourism and the country’s borders will not only depend on South Africa’s response to the coronavirus, but also on 44 primary source markets that drive international tourism to the country.
With these data, the department forecasts a reopening of global tourism in a wide window: between August 2020 and early 2021.
“This scenario assumes that the overall recovery trajectory observed persists and that progress toward improved treatments for Covid-19 by the end of 2020 continues, with an accessible vaccine hitting the market in late 2021,” the department said.
“Given that indications of international border reopening remain speculative at the time of writing, these dates represent the Earliest probable date international travel will resume. “
The model below shows the estimated travel periods for South Africa’s main ‘countries of origin’.
- The model is established between August 2020 and May 2021;
- For domestic trips (trips within the respective country), the opening window is set between August 2020 and mid-February 2021;
- For international travel (to and from the respective country), the opening window is set between November 2020 and May 2021.
Read: President Ramaphosa will address the nation on lockdown rules tonight
[ad_2]
