Erratic flight arrivals lose business Zimbabwe's fresh produce exporters are getting increasingly irked by what they see as erratic flight arrival times of the new alliance between DHL and Affretair and are using other airlines in preference. Exporters contacted by FTW in Harare say that they cannot rely on the five times a week service (recently increased from four times a week) to arrive on time, and have been losing out in Europe. The flight lands in Brussels, with flower consignments then having to go onto Amsterdam. Said one exporter, who did not want to be named: Twice now my goods have been late and have been marked down as inferior quality. With inflation zooming all the time and the uncertainty over our dollar, I cannot afford to lose one cent.
The other carriers are getting my business. Horticulture makes up 85% of the country's airfreight business and figures provided to FTW by an international airline show just how much business Affretair is losing. In July its total volume of fresh produce was 21% out of 290 tonnes carried. The proportion in August was 31% out of 330 tonnes and 27% in September out of 840 tonnes. But at least we now have the option, says the exporter, and we can sleep at night knowing that our goods will get to the market on time and in good condition. The next step is for Affretair to be privatised, and then we will be really happy. A new local airfreight airline has been formed, Flywell, which is using Cargo Services as its agent.
By Martin Rushmere
