JOY ORLEK SIX MONTHS since the launch of its ‘Prioritise’ service for express freight, British Airways World Cargo is seeing strong demand for the product both locally and internationally, says UK-based head of sales and international customer services Baba Devani. And it’s not only speed to market that’s driving the growth, but guaranteed access to capacity. The Prioritise option enables customers to send freight of any weight across the airline’s global network, with every consignment carrying a performance guarantee. If it fails to fly as booked, the shipper is entitled to a 50% refund of the freight charges “All data indicated that there was a demand for this type of product,” says Devani. “Our investment has been rewarded and interestingly we have received very few claims for the money back guarantee.” In South Africa the growth has come not only from new business but from the airline’s existing customer base converting to the Prioritise option, says regional commercial manager for Africa, Patrick Fehring. “The largest growth has come from conversion of automotive flows into North America – we were already carrying the cargo but we are now able to offer customers a better proposition, better guarantees and access to capacity. “It’s all part of the speed to market supply chain efficiency where shippers feel the initial cost is justified by the speed of reaching the market on time.” But while speed is an obvious service benefit, it’s clear that in capacity-constrained markets shippers at countries of origin will buy express products for access to space. “Their required transit time isn’t any shorter but they want to get on the flight,” says Devani. And this has created unexpected logistical issues at BA’s express facility. “Because shippers weren’t necessarily looking for faster transit times, we found that some of the freight was sitting in the building which was designed for speedy throughput. “It shows how when you launch a new product you learn so much more about the business.” With this additional practical input, product enhancement is the future focus. “We’re not looking at new capital investment but rather the process we use – and that involves IT and the way we handle freight,” Devani said.
