Kick-start for airfreight growth

Expectations for growth in

the Mozambican airfreight

market remain high despite

the current adverse market

conditions.

While volumes have remained low

in the past few months due to the

low market prices for oil and gas,

demand is expected to increase once

the planned LNG project kicks off in

early 2017.

Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral

Aviation, an established cargo

airline based in Kenya, says the

benefits in Mozambique are

enormous.

“But they are linked to the oil, gas

and mining sector,” he told FTW.

“Due to the insufficient demand

caused by the lack of activity in

the oil and gas sector this year the

current airfreight volumes have

remained low, ranging between only

five to ten tons a week.”

But, says Gadhia, he is optimistic

that demand will increase as soon as

the end of the year.

“The outlook is extremely positive

in light of the planned LNG plant,”

he says.

With the discovery of more than

75 trillion cubic feet of recoverable

natural gas resources, Anardarko is

working to develop one of the world’s

largest LNG projects in Mozambique.

While the project has moved more

slowly than was initially expected,

indications are that it will be all

systems go towards the end of this

year and into early 2017.

Experts maintain that the ongoing

gas projects in the country following

the massive finds will transform

Mozambique’s economy, despite

confidence being dampened earlier

this year following the announcement

of the state’s debt.

Gadhia shares the positive

sentiment saying the gas projects will

bring major opportunity to logistics

role-players across the continent

– so much so that the company is

considering investing in a cargo

terminal at Pemba Airport for its

own shipments.

“One of the biggest challenges

in Mozambique at present is the

lack of infrastructure. The present

infrastructure at the Pemba Airport

is very limited for cargo handling.

Astral Aviation operates a fleet

of seven cargo aircraft from its

Nairobi hub to Europe (London

and Liege), Mozambique (Pemba

and Nacala), Tanzania (Dar-essalaam,

Mwanza, Zanzibar and

Mtwara), South Sudan (Juba),

Somalia (Mogadishu), Rwanda

(Kigali), Uganda (Entebbe) and

Comoros (Moroni) in addition to

50 destinations on a charter basis.

“We have been servicing

Mozambique since 2014, offering

a weekly scheduled service from

Nairobi specifically for the oil and

gas sector with cargo consolidations

in Houston, Aberdeen, Singapore,

Dubai and Johannesburg,” says

Gadhia. “The service provides 15 tons

of capacity per week.”

The company also operates a

weekly air cargo service between

Nairobi and Nacala to complement

its Pemba service.

CAPTION

Astral Aviation... serving Mozambique since 2014.