King Shaka up to speed – but cargo stays away

The cargo operation at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) is now running smoothly, according to airport users, but there is still an utter dearth of international flights. Benjy Balgo, Röhlig Grindrod’s operations manager at KSIA, told FTW that his company’s domestic cargo was moving very well. “We use mostly Emirates – the sole international operator from the airport – for international cargo, and they are excellent,” he added. “Other international consignments that are not convenient through Emirates we transport via Johannesburg airport.” Questioned about growth in volumes through KSIA, Balgo reckoned that there had been no growth. “Indeed,” he said, “I think volumes have dropped. But the international scene is not too hot at the moment, and I think that has played a main role in this downturn.” Rajen Chetty, who handles the airfreight at Kuehne + Nagel in Durban, agreed with Balgo’s market assessment. “I haven’t found any problems recently on domestic airfreight,” he said. “On the international side, of course, we use Emirates, which we support a lot, but there should be other carriers coming in soon. I’ve heard, for example, that Etihad Airways is thinking about it.” This was confirmed by Petr Cizek, GM of Etihad cargo. “We sent a delegation to Durban for a look at the airport, but there’s nothing decided yet. Etihad is concentrating on the Johannesburg and Cape Town routes at the moment, and there is a shortage of aircraft. “But we’ll look at Durban again once everything stabilises.”