Groupair’s global expansion drive is set to continue in 2024 as the company bolsters its international footprint.According to Paul Danvers, commercial director, locally several major developments have taken place in recent months with the business having revamped its operations processes as well as its warehouse. “This is part of our process to align ourselves with various health and safety protocols and have a streamlined layout, making it easier to receive and dispatch cargo.”He said the company had embarked on the expansion project in South Africa and the rest of the world earlier in 2023 and several new developments were in the pipeline across multiple continents for 2024.He said the decision to expand was made despite the forecast for f lat growth in demand in 2024. “We believe, however, that now is the right time to invest in our business and to ensure we have a global footprint. Performance of the global economy is key, as well as political stability. There could be enormous global impact should the war in the Middle East escalate.”Danvers said in South Africa the performance at the ports continued to be an important development to watch. “Should the turnaround of the ports take longer than planned, then we may see an upswing in air cargo into South Africa in the short to medium term. It is too early, however, to definitively say that this will happen.”He said cargo to and from key global markets such as the USA, United Kingdom, Europe and the Far East would continue to dominate. “I do believe, however, that we will see an upswing in cargo movement between South Africa and Latin America.”At the time of speaking to Danvers he said outbound capacity was under tremendous pressure due to perishable cargo taking preference. “During December we also had challenges with inbound space. All of this does mean that we need to be creative with matching solutions with cost going forward.”
