Additional frequency supports S America trade growth

Significant growth
on the South
Africa-South
America route
will see the launch of
additional frequencies by
LATAM Airlines on the
Johannesburg-Sao Paulo
route from November 17.
“Since the introduction
of direct flights we’ve seen
growing support from the
cargo market – hence the
increase to five frequencies
per week from November,”
Bryn Woolley, managing
director of Aircross, the
local general sales agent for
LATAM Cargo, told FTW.
Woolley believes that the
introduction of direct flights
to all the major destinations
via the airline’s Sao Paulo
hub has been the catalyst
for improved growth. “We
offer daily wide-body and
narrow-body capacity to
almost all of the major
destinations within South
America via Sao Paulo.
Those destinations not
served directly via Sao Paulo
can be serviced via one of
our other main stations on
the continent that have daily
flights from the hub. We can
offer a very quick transit to
all the major cities.”
Woolley says that until
recently the South American
market has been a “grey
area” – a minefield for the
uninitiated.
“Customs procedures
must be 100% correct or
your cargo will be held until
the problems are rectified –
which can incur extra costs
and delays,” says Woolley,
who is convinced that
LATAM has played a key
role in facilitating smooth
transit of cargo.
“We pre-alert all of our
shipments to our customer
service department, who in
turn pre-alert the customs
departments at Sao Paulo.
Any discrepancies that
are noted are reported
back to our office and
our staff can inform the
customer prior to the cargo
departing Johannesburg.
This has alleviated a
large percentage of the
documentation delays that
were experienced in the
past.”
And while the entire
network has seen volume
growth, Woolley has
identified Chile, Mexico
and Brazil as the star
performers.
INSERT & CAPTION
The introduction
of direct flights
to all the major
destinations via
LATAM’s Sao Paulo
hub has been the
catalyst for improved
trade growth.
– Bryn Woolley