Singapore Airlines Gala Dinner with Minister Maynier

We are proud of our award-winning Cape Town International Airport, which was named “Africa’s Leading Airport” this year at the World Travel Awards.

We are proud of our award-winning “Cape Town Air Access” partnership, which brings together three spheres of government, six entities, and the private sector, which is a first in South Africa.

And which has done such great work launching new routes, and expanding existing routes, and growing seat capacity numbers at Cape Town International Airport.

We are especially proud of the airlines - including Singapore Airlines, the “symbol of Asian hospitality”, which connects South Africa with Asia – and which flies every day, all year round to Cape Town International Airport.

We wish to thank Singapore Airlines, who have been such great partners, over the past four years, and who have been working together with our air access team, to expand seat capacity numbers at Cape Town International Airport.

We have, together, shown that by expanding air connectivity, we can expand opportunity for people, and by expanding opportunity for people, we can give hope to people, who do not have jobs, or who have given up looking for jobs, in Cape Town.

We are all delighted to celebrate Singapore Airlines “25 years in Cape Town” with you here tonight in Cape Town.

We all celebrate your elegance, your style, your beauty, and the fact that you are the “symbol of Asian hospitality”, all of which, of course, explains why Singapore Airlines was ranked as the “World’s Best Airline” last year by Skytrax.

We celebrate the past 25 years of Singapore Airlines in Cape Town, and we look forward to the next 25 years of Singapore Airlines in Cape Town.

We hope that we can, as you like to day, “let your imaginations fly” and that we can build on our strong partnership, and look forward to another 25 years of the elegance, the style and the beauty of Singapore Airlines flying every day, all year round, to Cape Town International Airport.

I thank you.