Bright spots glimmer in bleak airfreight landscape

Expect a serious shake up on the airfreight industry landscape this year, with uncompetitive firms vanishing from the scene, according to one veteran of many previously tumultuous business cycles. Gerd von Mansberg of Kempton Park-based The Cargo Connection believes 2012 will be one of the toughest years for the air cargo industry. “I think anyone who comes out of it with less than a bloody nose will be in good shape. They’ll be a survivor,” he said. Why the prediction of bloodletting? “Air cargo business as a whole has not been good. January was very poor as South Africans took too long to come out of their (holiday) slumber, and there is too much competition. The competitive nature of the business is driving prices down, and we have far too much capacity in the market if you add up all the freighters and airlines. Any airline that wants to do a load factor of 80-85%-plus just isn’t getting there,” Von Mansberg said. Bright spots glimmer however, for the industry as a whole. The Cargo Connection, which has GSA agreements with Egypt Air and other airlines, finds that air cargo travelling the continent is up, most notably to Namibia and the destinations of SAA Airlink, another of the firm’s GSAs. That movement on the continent, he says, is definitely a positive in the long run. “We are classified as an emerging market and there is certainly the potential for growth here. If you look at the expansion of South Africa into the rest of Africa, from supermarket chains to clothing and commodities, there is a lot going on now and more to come. South African countries are also importing a little bit now from one another. SADC is trying to encourage that – not so much yet, but there is growth potential there too,” Von Mansberg said.