Thanks to the growing number of international airlines that added King Shaka International Airport to their schedules in the pre-Covid-19 era, the Dube Cargo Terminal and the airport grew at over 18% per year.In addition, said Hamish Erskine, CEO of the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone (SEZ), these double digits had been maintained for the past five years.
“This growth was achieved by the Dube Cargo Terminal managing to capture a 60% share of the KwaZulu-Natal air cargo market – in effect doubling cargo volumes between 2015 and 2020,” he added. “This was a direct result of the increasing number of international and regional airlines f lying direct to Durban – from only one airline in 2010 to six in the past ten years, which increased the available belly capacity in passenger f lights to f ly cargo in and out of KwaZulu-Natal.”
According to Erskine while there is currently widespread uncertainty about how the aviation sector will emerge post the Covid-19 crisis, there is still a strong business case for f lying goods in and out of Durban due to the city’s sea port, its current manufacturing capacity, and its logistics infrastructure. “The SEZ’s role as a catalyst for economic development will continue to be important as a development area for the business community, as the post-Covid-19 response will emphasise the need for the further localisation of manufacturing capacity and the development of home-grown supply chains to support South Africa's continued socio-economic growth.”
Plans to cater to this demand were therefore ongoing, said Erskine.“We have several zones that we are developing, namely Dube TradeZone 2, which will be home to a pharmaceuticals cluster aimed at attracting new domestic and foreign direct investment into the South African economy, and Dube AgriZone 2, which will accommodate a number of agri processing businesses including perishable goods such as horticulture, medicinal plants, meat processing and aquaculture.”
According to Erskine, Dube TradeZone 2 will open up an additional 38 hectares of fully serviced prime light manufacturing real estate. Also being developed within this zone is an electronics cluster along with an area catering for general light manufacturing. He said the SEZ had always responded to the needs of the market and worked to understand what would work best in any environment.“This approach has allowed the organisation to develop infrastructure and support services that add value to the business community.”
