Khuphuka launches three new cargo services

This month marks the launch of the first scheduled f light by new Durban-based cargo airline, Khuphuka Kings Airways. And two more services to other foreign destinations are due to follow soon, according to airline MD, Dr Musa Mdluli. He told FTW that this month would see one of the airline’s two 46-tonne capacity Ilyushin 76s heading from Durban’s King Shaka Airport for Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo – with a stop-over in Ndola province, which is part of the copper-rich mining belt in Zambia. And soon the other Ilyushin will be rolling down the King Shaka runway headed for the Nigerian port city of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic focal point, generating a significant portion of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Also, Mdluli told FTW, a Boeing 747F aircraft – with a 120-tonne cargo capacity – would also soon take off on an intercontinental f light bound for Mumbai in India. “We had a visit last week from an Indian delegation, looking to create direct trade contact between Durban and Mumbai,” said Mdluli. “During that visit, we signed an agreement with MGM Global Air of Mumbai, and the result is that service which starts next week.”