Airlink brings on freighters to serve growing Africa market

Africa’s poor road infrastructure bodes well for airfreight that can transport cargo quickly and efficiently to any destination, said Alwyn Rautenbach, CEO of Airlink Cargo. “Africa is set to continue expanding at a high pace, contributing to higher freight growth than the rest of the world,” Rautenbach told FTW. “Increased production of natural resources contributes to an increase in traffic flow and therefore an increase in airfreight.” According to Rautenbach, this growth has led Airlink Cargo to provide a freighter aircraft specifically targeted at servicing Africa’s diverse needs – from the express to the perishable market. “We are in the process of converting a second aircraft into a freighter and that will be ready shortly. The plan is to convert a number of freighter aircraft to service the expansion of airfreight into Africa.” Airlink Cargo is also working towards the Iata e-freight strategy of going paperless, he said. By having an electronic air waybill and a total warehouse solution in place the plan is to go paperless in the very near future. The company has identified Mozambique, Zambia and Madagascar as immediate growth markets but is also targeting Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho. According to Rautenbach they are set to expand to Namibia with the introduction of a Windhoek route from Johannesburg set to commence soon. “The African market has grown to be extremely important and attractive to investors due to a number of development opportunities and current developments under way in the mining and industrial industries. This has positive spin-offs for airfreight transport, as delivery of supplies is a key factor for the successful operation of these companies.” He said it was important that the airfreight industry addressed challenges around aero-political issues which can make expansion of route networks difficult. “The challenge arises from resistance to the adoption of the open skies principles as agreed in the Yamoussoukro agreement.”