The airfreight sector is primed for ambitious capacity growth into Africa, but rates and a careful approach to avoid setbacks experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic will be key to tap into market expansion, Aero Africa CEO Christos Spyrou has said.
The founder of the neutral air consolidator told delegates on the first day of the ‘air cargo Africa 2023’ (*) conference in Johannesburg that proper planning was one of the most valuable lessons learned while global markets were in lockdown.
He said the company had seen how block space agreements (BSA) would often be exposed to airlines cancelling flights, only to offer airfreight alternatives at vastly increased prices.
“They would offer to take cargo on a similar aircraft that is chartered but increase prices 200%,” Spyrou said.
As a result, the company has decided to base its BSA offerings on total capacity.
One of several speakers who participated in a panel discussion on the “highs and lows” of the pandemic, and how the value of hindsight could benefit airfreight operators in Africa, Spyrou was equal parts reserved and enthused about growth in the sector.
“We can definitely see (additional) capacity coming out of Europe, and there should be even more soon.”
He emphasised though that currently it’s felt that there’s still a lack of sufficient capacity, despite growing demand across the continent.
Cost, however, was the primary concern, Spyrou stressed.
“Market rates in the US, Europe and countries like India are already high, but in Africa they have gone up by as much as 70%. That is very expensive.”
According to Spyrou, several trends have emerged during the pandemic, such as the concentration of inbound cargo into hub countries, in which instance networking with freight forwarders was stepped up to avoid delayed shipments of especially critical cargo.
“As a consolidator, it taught us to absorb the complexity of freight forwarding while coming up with simplified solutions,” Spyrou said.
From a post-pandemic perspective, particularly to address the burden of punishing costs, he pleaded for improved collaboration across the airfreight sector.
“Freight forwarders, carriers and consolidators, all of us should come together and see what we can do to improve services.”
* The conference at Emperor's Palace in Kempton Park runs until Thursday, 23 February.
