Additional freighter capacity welcomed

Against a background of growing demand for DDU and DDP services into Africa, independent consolidator CFR Airfreight has extended the number of destinations to which this option is offered, says Johannesburgbased airfreight branch manager Dave Gurney. “Thanks to our strong agency network in the region, we’re able to offer the Delivered Duty Unpaid and Paid options to more than 16 countries,” Gurney told FTW. It’s a trend that has evolved globally over the years where the shipper pays all costs up to consignee door. Reflecting on the past year, Gurney is more than satisfied with business growth into the region – served in its entirety – with Lagos and Nairobi its strongest markets. Capacity has, however, been a particular concern, according to Gurney, with South African Airways having cancelled several freighter flights which created operational challenges for everyone concerned. But the good news is that the airline is planning a revamp of its freighter services which will significantly ramp up capacity. “That will be a great help into key areas like Uganda, Kigali and Accra,” said Gurney. And while capacity has been a challenge, it’s been exacerbated by the type of cargo moving into the region. “We’ve been getting a lot of oversize cargo calling for upper deck loading, which restricts the operators we can use.” With the global commodity market on an upward trajectory, unsurprisingly much of this was mining related. For the year ahead, Gurney is upbeat. “South Africa is increasingly playing a role as the gateway to sub-Saharan Africa and we’re seeing a slight increase in requests from our network – the Air Cargo Group – for on-forwarding of cargo over Johannesburg. ”While many global forwarders know South Africa, they come to us for advice on other markets in Africa.”