Kenya Airways Cargo reveals growth plans

Concentrating on niche destinations JOY ORLEK FOLLOWING ITS restructuring at the end of last year which saw the creation of Kenya Airways Cargo, the airline is anticipating a buoyant 2005. Manager regional cargo sales for southern Africa, Shawn McGuinness, is particularly upbeat about potential in Gaborone and Windhoek and expects to appoint general sales agents in these centres to generate more cargo in the near future. The airline is already flying to Harare, Malawi and Zambia, having more recently added Lubumbashi to its southern region. “We concentrate on destinations not served by other airlines,” says McGuinness. “But with our worldwide connections from Nairobi, it is a developing hub with a lot of cargo moving on to the Middle and Far East.” Kenya Airways offers 14 flights a week on the Johannesburg and Cape Town – Nairobi routes. A code-share capacity agreement with Martinair has significantly boosted freighter on the Saturday schedule, said McGuinness. The creation of Kenya Airways Cargo followed the airline’s buy-out of the 40% stake held by co-shareholders Martinair and KLM in subsidiary Kencargo Airlines International. A Kenya Airways Cargo office will open in Cape Town at the end of March.