Airlines plan extra capacity to cope with growing volumes

LEONARD NEILL
THE LAST two years has seen growing demand for air freight capacity into West Africa, while developments in the Indian Ocean islands is now shifting focus to the eastern sector as well.
Airline Cargo Resources (ACR) represents five airlines offering services into the region with Air Austral and Air Madagascar, which serve the islands, playing increasingly important roles.
Air Austral’s new Boeing 777 made its initial landing at Johannesburg International Airport last October. Although not servicing the South African route at present, it is scheduled to return throughout the month of March.
With a cargo capacity of 35 tons, it will make regular calls during that month and then decisions will be made on future scheduled calls.
Air Madagascar is currently upgrading services, with its B767 calling regularly in recent months at JIA. The aircraft has been used mainly to transport raw materials between the two countries.
“There are many positive changes in Madagascar at the moment and there is a distinct and visible growth in foreign trade,” says ACR general manager Natalie Rice. “This obviously has a great influence on the import and. export markets. The airline is now considering purchasing another 767 and using this exclusively on the South African route.”
Ethiopian Airlines is the longest-standing carrier served by ACR. It has an extensive network into Africa, with three fights out of JIA every week, on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.
Air Namibia and Compion Aviation are also handled by ACR. Air Namibia offers daily flights from both JIA and Cape Town to Windhoek, where further connections are available to Luanda and also into Europe.