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Caribbean carrier to make SA debut Ray Smuts - Freight & Trading Weekly - 28 April 2000 edition -
- Freight & Trading Weekly
28 April 2000 edition
Caribbean carrier to make SA debut Ray Smuts |
JUNE MARKS a new chapter in South African commercial air traffic history when APA Internacional Air becomes the first Caribbean carrier to inaugurate a regular schedule between the Dominican Republic and Cape Town. Company chairman and c.e.o. Dr Nemen Nader, in Cape Town to set up the airline's first office in the country, confirmed in an exclusive interview with FTW last week that APA Internacional Air had been granted "temporary approval" - what he terms normal procedure - to operate for an initial six months between the Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo and the Mother City. "We open the Cape Town office on May 1 and hope to commence with our schedule in mid-June, offering a very competitive rate," he says. Of Lebanese extraction, Dr Nader - lawyer, entrepreneur, veteran Member of Parliament and his party's candidate for the Dominican Republic's presidential elections in May - believes his country and South Africa have much to gain in terms of economic, political and cultural exchanges, hence the decision to inject an initial R3 million into the APA Internacional Air operation here. "On the freight side we wil be bringing in produce like pineapples, bananas, mangos, melons and a wide variety of seafood including king crabs, while exports would include grapes, wine, fruit juices and cider. APA Internacional Air's Cape Town staff complement of 20 in the city office and about 10 concentrating solely on airfreight at Cape Town International Airport, is in the process of being recruited, as is a Cape-based GSA. The company has appointed Mr Madhi Pakco as its representative. Formed in 1980 and one of the largest airlines in the Dominican Republic, APA Internacional Air operates 16 aircraft including seven Boeing 747s and is about to add a further 15 to the fleet following successful negotiations with another company. Dr Nader, says the next priority is to open an office in Johannesburg. Copyright Now Media (Pty) Ltd |
