Ngqula concerned at Emirates’ Cape Town application LEONARD NEILL SOUTH AFRICAN Airways is eyeing a greater portion of the international air freight market, with its prime targets the lucrative loads moving to both the Far East and European destinations. How to achieve this is one of the priorities of chief executive Khaya Ngqula. In particular, Ngqula wants a greater portion of the business which airlines such as Emirates are maximising. This, he says, enables them to discount passenger fares. Ngqula says only 5% of passengers arriving in South Africa on Emirates and Qatar Airways are from their home markets. “Most of the others are lured away from SAA and other airlines offering direct flights by cheaper fares or offers of free or low-cost stop-overs. This they can do because of the strong income they earn from cargo loads.” With two other Middle East carriers – Etihad Airways and Gulf Air – due to enter the South African route from December 1, the competition with the national carrier will be increased, he says. Ngqula has already started a move to oppose further flights into the country being granted to any Middle East airlines. But how SAA will offer counter measures in order to snatch greater cargo volumes remains unanswered. Unlike Emirates to Dubai and the likes of British Airways and Lufthansa serving Europe, SAA does not have dedicated cargo aircraft to call upon. Since selling off its own fleet some years ago, the local airline has only a handful of small domestic freighters at its command. It’s a dilemma facing Ngqula, and one which has placed additional pressure on him with the Cape provincial parliament and that region’s chamber of commerce and industry lending support to an Emirates application for more traffic rights to start a non-stop service to Cape Town. Even though this would be passenger based, it would allow large capacity for freight – and the Western Cape perishable export service to Middle and Far East destinations is on a marked upward growth cycle.
