EAS achieves ‘record-breaking’ growth

JOY ORLEK
‘PHENOMENAL’ IS how Neil Harris of Express Air Services describes the company’s domestic growth over the last 5 years with the past two breaking records each month and year.
“Meticulous emphasis on personalised customer service and total control of our processes are our secrets,” says the domestic divisional director, who believes that partnerships with suppliers and customers have played a crucial role in EAS’s increased share of the domestic airfreight daytime market. “This ensures that we capitalise on the market growth which we estimate to be between 6-8% per annum.”
Through its partner airlines - Comair, kulula.com and 1Time - EAS links Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and George offering a three-tier option. “Our competitive service caters for every courier company and freight forwarder’s requirements in the form of economy cargo to super express,” says Harris.
The Normal (NDS) service is designed for cargo that needs to reach its destination faster than road freight.
The second tier - Fleet Freight - guarantees that goods will move on one of the next three available flights, while the Same Day Express (SDX) is its premium product.
“SDX cargo is either flown as booked based on the customer’s instructions, or flown on the next available flight.
“The first and last flights of the day are reserved for SDX cargo,” says Harris.
But EAS has taken its service commitment one step further through operational refinement.
“Whereas the industry standard for the handout of cargo is 45 minutes, we have managed to achieve average hand-out times for express cargo at major airports of between 25 to 30 minutes from the time that the aircraft has parked. In certain instances, at the smaller airports, we are achieving hand-out times of approximately 15 minutes.”