African air cargo carriers are re-aligning and repositioning themselves in the face of an increasingly challenging and more competitive operating environment.As global airfreight traffic continues to decline, more and more international players are turning to Africa, one of the few regions still posting growth. The African market has always been strong and is steadily increasing, according to Tshepo Tladi, sales and marketing manager for Airlink Cargo.Tladi told FTW there was an overf low of capacity available in the market at present due to the increased number of international carriers f lying into the continent with wide body aircraft.“The local industry has felt the pinch and as a result certain carriers have reduced their frequencies and aircraft types being operated.”But, says Tladi, it’s not all bad news. “There are many opportunities for local carriers.“We are very positive that this year will yield a more positive result for the region and the industry players considering the growth in the African air freight sector.”According to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), African carriers are posting the fastest growth of any region in the world, with an increase in demand of 19.8% in November last year compared to the same month in 2018.Predominantly driven by strong trade and investment links with Asia, this positive performance was good news for the air cargo sector, said Tladi.“There is undoubtedly a positive investment trend in the region,” he said. “Despite the total airfreight market recording negative growth of -1.1% growth, the African market has shown grown 19.8% year-on-year.”With this in mind, Tladi said, Airlink Cargo was planning to align itself with the growth despite the physical constraints it faced.While he was unwilling to share details of the alignment process or the strategy, Tladi said it was essential that African carriers remained ahead of the game and took steps to ensure they were competitive with their international counterparts.“The African continent has the potential for future growth. A lot of the international carriers want to see themselves playing in the African market for obvious reasons,” he said.
INSERT: There's an overflow of capacity in the African market due to the increased number of international carriers flying in with wide body aircraft.– Tshepo Tladi
