‘Efficiency will help overcome strong rand woes’

SAA Cargo VP spells out the challenges JOY ORLEK THE AIRFREIGHT industry needs to set aside its preoccupation with the stronger rand and focus on becoming more efficient irrespective of the exchange rate. That’s the view of recently appointed vice president SAA Cargo, Patrick Dlamini, who believes that SAA must position itself to create easy access to new markets as global agreements facilitate trade opportunities. “World economies are opening up to developing countries and that is opening doors of opportunity to our exporters. “In the light of these agreements we need to be positioned in such a way that we make it easier for shippers to gain access to these markets. “I’m very excited about the Commission on Africa led by Tony Blair and Trevor Manuel who are looking at how to influence first world countries to open up their markets to third world economies.” But achieving the requisite levels of service will be a fine balancing act in light of the many challenges facing the industry. One of these is the fuel price which, at time of writing, had just hit its highest level ever. “That can only recover,” says Dlamini, “and although the airline industry is a very sensitive one given its global nature, it has a very bright future.” From an SA perspective he believes one of the key issues is the renegotiation of Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA) between countries in the region. “They need to be much more liberal and most need to be updated. “It’s up to us to ensure they are in tune with the times and the changes, particularly in the light of the African Union (AU).” Dlamini joined SAA late last year after a seafreight career with SA Port Operations, most recently as business unit executive of the Multi Purpose Terminal. He’s bullish about the future of airfreight, particularly at SAA. “Our CEO believes that cargo is a good revenue generator and we are talking to the SA board and executive committee about our new vision and time lines for the launch of our freighters into various markets.” An announcement is expected to be made in this regard shortly.