CARGO IS moving at a comfortable rate through Durban airport at present, bringing a smile to the face of SAA cargo manager in the city, Japie Pretorius.
The reason is that the planned extensions to the airfreight terminal have been completed.
Yes, the current phase has been completed and all that remains now is for the cleaning up process and the organisation of better office space to house our sections, he says.
Everything went through smoothly, even though at times we had up to 200 workers on the job. The result is there to see. The handlers are having no problems with either domestic or imported freight any longer. Air cargo has long been regarded as Durban's ÔCinderella' freight industry, but the long-overdue extensions have represented the first form of improvements in the freight section at the airport since 1974.
We had major hassles in the past but that seems to have been settled now, says Ross Bisaal, Fast Lane's hub manager, who handles domestic deliveries.
We get our packages little more than 45 minutes after the aircraft has landed. That takes some beating. Jay Ganas, operations manager for Grindrod Airfreight weighs in with a similar comment.
Things are going smoothly out there now, he says. There is very little delay in getting clearance for imported goods. Everything is expected to go even faster in this respect when the new offices have been settled in. Customs have shared premises with SAA until now, but will soon have their own office space when they move to one side of the terminal from an intrusive centre position to general operations.
At present SAA, BA and Singapore Airlines offer the largest capacity of airfreight into Durban on their direct services. Limited freight capacity is also available on other international airlines serving the city.
