As part of an ongoing business evolution strategy, Groupair South Africa has developed several airfreight import products over the past six months. According to import development consultant Paul Danvers, this includes a dedicated weekly airfreight direct consolidation out of the United Kingdom (UK). “The growth of this consolidation during the past few weeks has been phenomenal and the volumes increase on a weekly basis,” he told Freight News.Danvers said the company was firmly aware of the need for continual business evolution and finding solutions in line with customers’ needs was essential in the current trying economic environment. “This approach is critical as the trading landscape changes. As our customers’ needs change, so must we be able to have the f lexibility to change with them. To this end we have recently successfully concluded complex cross-trade shipments across the African continent and beyond,” he said. “We believe that our solutions mindset is a big part of the reason that we have seen an upswing in volumes, often higher than the industry average, over the past few months.”While the company has not escaped the many challenges and issues facing the airfreight industry it is continuing to change course and evolve with the times. “Fewer f lights and higher input costs are a reality and thus we continue to work closely with our network to ensure we are getting the best possible pricing,” he said. “Flight availability has reduced while demand has increased and thus the costs are in a state of f lux. We do not believe that the current scenario will change in the short term and the challenge for the industry will be thinner margins for some time to come.”
