Demand on SA route could support A380 operations today KEVIN MAYHEW AIRFREIGHT WILL play a key role in the long haul logistics chain as more economical and versatile freight carriers enable the functions of the integrated freight carrier, the mixed carrier and the heavy load haulers to cross over into each other’s turf to offer services in a very competitive environment. Keith Stonestreet, product marketing director, A380 marketing division of Airbus, says that the projected growth of the airfreight industry will require at least 400 new long haul super freighters such as the A380-800F for the likes of FedEx as well as increased capacity and versatility on new passenger aircraft to meet these needs by the year 2023. Growth projections for air cargo are such that Africa will be transporting as much by that date as North America does today – although this will represent only 1,7% of projected international airfreight movement. South Africa is positioned to play a major role with its capacity as a hub for feeders from the southern African sub-continent, he said. “To meet this, the airfreight cargo sector will become more mixed. The traditional split of the dedicated carriers such as FedEx, the mixed carriers like the cargo divisions of major passenger airlines and then the heavy freight will be far less pronounced. “Certainly within the mixed carriers and integrated carriers we are already seeing that happening and we anticipate it will happen more and more,” he said. Referring to the A380-800F specifically, he said its design had been informed by all these factors after extensive consultation with airlines, handlers, airport authorities, safety bodies, environmental pressure groups and many others to establish the operational needs of the aircraft to service the freight market into the 2020s and beyond. “We believe airfreight will be a very important long haul option in the future so we had to provide both passenger and freight aircraft that would be able to meet the demands for economy, versatility and a major improvement on payload tonnage without requiring major upgrades or capital expenditure for handling facilities to introduce the aircraft,” he explained. The A380-800F offers a payload of 150t which is 30% more carriage tonnage than its nearest competitor. It also has a superior flight range of 1 500 miles compared with its nearest rival, which in both cases is the Boeing 747. At present it has orders for 27 freight craft and 132 passenger aircraft from 16 customers. Delivery of the first freighter will be in late 2008 when there will be 43 airports worldwide capable of handling them. Johannesburg and Cape Town will be upgraded in South Africa. Presently its order book for the new carrier is full to 2011. On its potential to service South African – and by implication African routes – Airbus spokesman for southern Africa, Linden Birns, said that the current traffic demand on routes linking Johannesburg with London, Frankfurt and increasingly also Sao Paulo and Mumbai, could support A380 operations today. He was unaware of any individual carriers’ plans to operate a dedicated A380 Freighter to Johannesburg. “The emerging trade alliance between South Africa, Brazil, China and India is one of the factors that could influence the introduction of the new aircraft as local operators see the opportunities for it,” he said.
