More charter aircraft find their way into Africa

ALAN PEAT
THE NUMBER of available charter aircraft for flying into Africa has increased over the last few years, according to Stuart Tonkin, executive assistant of Airline Cargo Resources (ACR).
“This,” he said, “largely due to the European continent’s strict noise control.
“A lot of the older Russian-type aircraft, for example, have found their way into Africa due to the lack of strict noise control in this continent.”
ACR has always been involved in sourcing aircraft for charters in and around Africa, and recently set up an agreement with Majestic Airlines which supplies various types of aircraft to the charter market.
“They have a fleet of Boeing 727-Fs, Antonov 12s, Ilyushin 76s, Boeing 747-200Fs, DC-8s, and Boeing 737-Fs available to them,” said Tonkin.
“But, should there be other requirements outside of what is available, they will source the requisite aircraft from elsewhere.”
Currently ACR is using Majestic’s regular flight - operating on the Johannesburg to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) route every Thursday, using the 16-18-ton capacity Boeing 727.
“The aircraft are available to fly to most destinations in Africa,” said Tonkin, “and the quotations are extremely competitive.”
The charter market is definitely on a growth path, he added, with at least one charter flight leaving Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) every day to head into the African continent.
The main types of commodities ACR is presently moving on airfreight charters include livestock, foodstuffs, telecommunication equipment, mining spares and election material - the last of which is all printed in SA and then chartered into the various African countries in time for their elections.