Fuel surcharges play havoc with rates

DESPITE RISING costs, for high value cargo airfreight is really the only viable option, says Martin Keck, managing director of independent air and seafreight consolidator CFR Freight. “While there is a great deal of nervousness around the economic climate at present, business for CFR has improved over the past 12 months – due largely to high service levels and our niche market strategy.” As is the case with everyone involved in airfreight, the major challenge facing the company currently is more on the technical side of rates, says Keck. Fuel surcharges are changing almost every week which means that tariffs have to be amended constantly. Schedule integrity and space allocations by the airlines specifically for African destinations also remain issues of concern. All is not doom and gloom however. Keck says: “I am and have always been optimistic about the future. For CFR Freight there are many positive opportunities on the horizon for continuous growth both on the air and seafreight side. The biggest opportunities lie in the general economic development of the African continent, a revived Zimbabwean economy and, in the short-term, the Football World Cup 2010.”