September saw the launch
by South African Airways
of a fortnightly freighter
service to Kinshasa,
underscoring the growing demand
for capacity on the route.
“For us the biggest growth over
the past 12 months has been to the
DRC,” says SAA Cargo national
sales manager, Ronel Rossouw.
“We used to operate into
Kinshasa only on a Thursday but
have now added a Wednesday
freighter. There are passenger
flights on the route, but freight
capacity on these flights is very
limited. Putting more pressure on
demand, Transair Congo pulled
out of the route last year and a
lot of perishable shippers rely on
airfreight,” she told FTW.
“We were only recently awarded
the second flight on a scheduled
basis and thanks to aggressive
marketing the volumes are
beginning to increase. We are
hopeful that as the busy season
approaches we’ll see more growth
with people stocking up for Xmas.”
Apart from the DRC, Accra
and Abidjan are also important
destinations for SAA Cargo. “In the
long-term those are strategic points
for us – not only for South African
cargo but for cargo from other parts
of the world feeding into those
areas,” she told FTW.
And hubs remain a key focus.
“We’re still looking into hubs not
only in West Africa but in a number
of other areas. We’ll then be in a
position to identify key areas where
we’ll establish ourselves more
predominantly. “
Operating in Africa always comes
with big challenges, and the biggest,
says Rossouw, is inconsistency of
capacity on passenger aircraft.
Because freighter space depends
on passenger capacity, there’s no
certainty from day to day of how
much capacity will be available.
“Today I may have a ton on our
Kinshasa flight and tomorrow I
won’t have any – which is not easy
to explain to customers.”
The knock-on effect for
international distributors who
are trying to feed a product like
pharmaceuticals into Africa is
significant. “They need consistency
because people’s lives depend on
the product. It’s clearly an issue that
will need to be addressed.”
In the short term, however,
SAA is placing a lot of focus on its
domestic product. The thinking is
that with a
consistent
and
profitable
base load,
the airline
will then
have the
resources to
explore new
destinations
on the
continent.
SAA’s recently launched lowcost
domestic product – branded
Bonsela – taps into a niche which
offers an airfreight service at
roadfreight rates. Ultimately it
aims to force a lot more traffic off
the road.
“Bonsela means ‘something on
special’ and we believe that’s what
we’re bringing to the market,” says
Rossouw.
“We offer shippers a road freight
price but on specific flights that
don’t normally carry cargo – like
the midday flight. Generally
parcels are ready at 16.30, they’re
collected at night and you pay a
premium. But for international
cargo that arrives in the
morning, you’re often
waiting for the night
flight – and in fact
a lot of people put it on road. Our
new Bonsela service taps into this
market.”
While the service has been
piloted for some time with key
customers, it was officially
launched in late
September.
INSERT & CAPTION
We’re still looking into
hubs, not only in West
Africa but in a number of
other areas.
– Ronel Rossouw
