A first of its kind flight, welcomed by many a tourism stakeholder, took off from Frankfurt last Tuesday evening at 21:55 and touched town at the KMI Airport the following day at 14:10 for the first time.
After a short stopover in Windhoek, the Lufthansa Group’s Eurowing Discover flight 4Y142 was welcomed with a water salute and a festive ceremony.
As of November 15, this airline operates up to three weekly direct flights between Frankfurt and KMI Airport, with a year-round service. This makes it the only carrier operating direct flights between South Africa’s Mpumalanga and Germany.
Eurowings Discover has a strong commercial focus on leisure destinations in Africa. KMI is the seventh destination on the continent offered by this airline. This follows the already existing services from Frankfurt to Mombasa, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Windhoek, Victoria Falls and Kilimanjaro.
“We are both thrilled and proud to start flight operations as the first intercontinental airline between Frankfurt and KMI Airport ever. For me, personally, it is a special pleasure to be on board of today’s inaugural Eurowings Discover flight,” said Helmut Woelfel, chief commercial officer of the airline.
“It is a truly unique addition not only to our own leisure portfolio, but also to the whole Lufthansa Group network. It has never been easier for travellers from all over Europe to experience the beauty and diversity of this stunning nature and wildlife reserve, which is particularly popular with holidaymakers from Germany.”
Welcoming the landing of this flight, an elated Mpumalanga MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Nompumelelo Hlophe, said, “As Mpumalanga, we are excited about the landing of the first-ever direct flight from Germany. This is a sign of trust and confidence in our tourism industry. We’re delighted that this will further expose and promote the destination of Mpumalanga as an international tourist destination of choice. We’re quite certain that this direct flight will increase the number of international tourists from Germany and Europe in general.
“We welcome the initiative, and we encourage other airlines to also consider flying directly into our province. Indeed, when we unite in purpose, we will surely be greater than the sum of our parts. I believe that this partnership will not only accelerate economic activity through tourism, but will also bring Europeans and our people closer, for future collaborative efforts.”
“This is really good news; both for South Africa as a tourism destination, and for German visitors who want to enjoy this part of this unique country. Welcome, Eurowings Discover, to Kruger Park! Namukelekile!” added German ambassador Andreas Peschke.
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The CEO of KMI Airport, Grant Ponting, extended a very warm and truly unique welcome to the airline and their inaugural flight.
“Watching the wheels touch down today was an incredible moment for all of us. We are proud of our role in this game-changing route development and look forward to collaborate with all stakeholders to fully realise the potential of our region’s wonderful tourist assets and the sustainability of this direct intercontinental schedule to and from Europe.”
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), naturally, is also excited to see the fulfilment of this dream of landing the first direct flight from Frankfurt to Mbombela.
“This is a game-changing achievement for the province. This flight will promote the destination and increase tourist numbers to the province. We look forward to providing our tourists from Germany with a memorable experience of wildlife, scenic beauty, adventure, culture and heritage,” said Mduduzi Vilakazi, acting CEO of the MTPA.
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The COO of SA Tourism, Nomasonto Ndlovu, said Germany is a key source market for South Africa.
“We know from our insights and from our engagement with German tourists that they want to be outdoors exploring and enjoying nature. Mpumalanga offers this and more. The province has a wide variety of experiences in wide open spaces, wildlife as well as quaint little towns characterised by unique South African cultures with warm and welcoming people always ready to receive and cater to tourists. South Africa is indeed open for business and we invite visitors from this market to use South Africa’s extensive network to also explore the other parts of our country as we have a wide variety of tourism products and experiences.”
