Airfreight wholesalers are under constant pressure from agents to offer more competitive rates, says Ver non Lines, managing director of Groupair.“There are many instances where these agents play the wholesalers off against each other in the market. This puts extra pressure on already low margins in addition to the higher service levels that are expected.”The wholesalers, in turn, put the same pressure on the airlines to commit to lower rates and high ser vice levels. But, says Lines, w ith increased airfreight export capacity from South Africa there are more options now than ever before – and it has become a buyer’s market, with available space and lower rates to a range of destinations.“In addition to this there are more-wide body aircraft servicing Africa which offers more choice and more competitive pr icing.”He says Groupair has positioned itself for continuous growth and is developing Johannesburg as a regional hub for transit cargo into southern Africa and other neighbouring states.The company recently moved premises to a fit-for-purpose facility in Pomona. “This 1 200 square metres of warehouse space gives us much more f lexibility to handle our increased volumes,” he says. “The growth we have seen in the past two years has been an encouraging sign for the company. With kilograms up and the number of shipments increasing steadily we have more than doubled our staff complement and more than tripled our airfreight volumes since 2017.”
INSERT: This 1 200 square metres of warehouse space gives us much more flexibility to handle our increased volumes.– Vernon Lines