Ethiopian Airlines, the flag carrier of Ethiopia and the most recent airline to announce Durban flights, joins Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Proflight (Zambia) in the new line-up of airlines who this year confirmed they will commence flights to King Shaka International Airport.
Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian supplement Emirates and Air Mauritius - the additional international options already operating scheduled services between Durban and Dubai and Durban and Plaine Magnien, Mauritius. All five of these airlines already serve airports in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Travelstart South Africa, the travel booking website that allows travellers to compare prices from all airlines and book flights, believes these new carriers will nudge the country's third largest city into an energised era of tourism, "In Durban we already have the makings of a world-class city - the nearby Drakensberg mountains - a World Heritage Site, the cultural tourist sites found in Zululand and the KZN Midlands, the beaches which lie north and south of the city, a first-rate stadium in Moses Mabhida, the ICC for business and the revitalised Golden Mile, to name a few," said the online travel agency's Head of Communications Russell Jarvis.
Previously under the radar on the international stage, in 2014 CNN named Durban, "The coolest city in South Africa you've never seen"; earlier in the year the news network placed it on its list, "10 of the world's most underrated cities".
"Durban and its surrounds have a lot to offer travellers of all types and some superb facilities to boot - it's about time Durban claimed its share of foreign tourists who visit our shores," said Jarvis.
