Airfreight shippers to reap benefits of competition

HAVING BROKEN the monopoly in air flight from Swaziland to Johannesburg after a landmark court ruling this year in its favour, Swazi Express Airways has earned the gratitude of passengers for radically lowering fares. Company founder and owner Hans Steffen felt air fares on the route were artificially high, and he went on to prove it by slashing prices, forcing his competitor to do the same. Soon airfreight shippers will reap the advantages of competition, as the company prepares to bring Express Air Services into its Matsapha International Airport operations. “They were here recently to set things up, and they will build an office next to ours,” said Steffen, who believes the movement of large volumes of airfreight awaits construction of Sikhupe Airport. The new facility, one hour’s drive east of Matsapha, may be in operation by 2009. The runway is already laid out, according to Steffen, one of the project’s main supporters.