Market responds to additional Kinshasa capacity

September saw the launch by South African Airways of a fortnightly freighter service to Kinshasa, underscoring the growing demand for capacity on the route. “For us the biggest growth over the past 12 months has been to the DRC,” says SAA Cargo national sales manager, Ronel Rossouw. “We used to operate into Kinshasa only on a Thursday but have now added a Wednesday freighter. There are passenger flights on the route, but freight capacity on these flights is very limited. Putting more pressure on demand, Transair Congo pulled out of the route last year and a lot of perishable shippers rely on airfreight,” she told FTW. “We were only recently awarded the second flight on a scheduled basis and thanks to aggressive marketing the volumes are beginning to increase. We are hopeful that as the busy season approaches we’ll see more growth with people stocking up for Xmas.” Apart from the DRC, Accra and Abidjan are also important destinations for SAA Cargo. “In the long-term those are strategic points for us – not only for South African cargo but for cargo from other parts of the world feeding into those areas,” she told FTW. And hubs remain a key focus. “We’re still looking into hubs not only in West Africa but in a number of other areas. We’ll then be in a position to identify key areas where we’ll establish ourselves more predominantly. “ Operating in Africa always comes with big challenges, and the biggest, says Rossouw, is inconsistency of capacity on passenger aircraft. Because freighter space depends on passenger capacity, there’s no certainty from day to day of how much capacity will be available. “Today I may have a ton on our Kinshasa flight and tomorrow I won’t have any – which is not easy to explain to customers.” The knock-on effect for international distributors who are trying to feed a product like pharmaceuticals into Africa is significant. “They need consistency because people’s lives depend on the product. It’s clearly an issue that will need to be addressed.” In the short term, however, SAA is placing a lot of focus on its domestic product. The thinking is that with a consistent and profitable base load, the airline will then have the resources to explore new destinations on the continent. SAA’s recently launched lowcost domestic product – branded Bonsela – taps into a niche which offers an airfreight service at roadfreight rates. Ultimately it aims to force a lot more traffic off the road. “Bonsela means ‘something on special’ and we believe that’s what we’re bringing to the market,” says Rossouw. “We offer shippers a road freight price but on specific flights that don’t normally carry cargo – like the midday flight. Generally parcels are ready at 16.30, they’re collected at night and you pay a premium. But for international cargo that arrives in the morning, you’re often waiting for the night flight – and in fact a lot of people put it on road. Our new Bonsela service taps into this market.” While the service has been piloted for some time with key customers, it was officially launched in late September. INSERT & CAPTION We’re still looking into hubs, not only in West Africa but in a number of other areas. – Ronel Rossouw