Imperial Air Cargo ready to launch regional charter service

ALAN PEAT THE RECENTLY launched cargo airline, Imperial Air Cargo (IAC), is now looking at starting its inter-African network of services. This is in addition to its already developed nightly schedule of return flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, George and Durban which concentrate on the freighter express market. According to GM Muriel Sahd, the regional charter service will soon be off the starting blocks, and she expects it to hit full speed by end-September. The first three chosen destinations are Harare in Zimbabwe, Lusaka in Zambia and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius “We are currently checking the viability of a number of other sub-Saharan destinations,” Sahd told FTW, “and this study should be ready by mid-October.” IAC is using a Boeing 727-200F freighter on its initial routes centred on the Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) hub, giving between 15 and 20-tons of airfreight capacity. The service is being run in conjunction with its cargo-handling and warehousing partner, Express Air Services (EAS) – which has infrastructure in the three chosen markets, and in a large number of other possible destinations on the African continent.