New freight option on DRC route

With the April 27 takeoff of the new African air operator Korongo Airlines’ twice-weekly service between Johannesburg and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the airline is offering up to eight tonnes of freight capacity between the two centres. According to Bryn Woolley, MD of general sales agents, ACR – which represents the airline in SA – Korongo’s converted Boeing 737-400 aircraft will be able to carry between one and two tonnes a flight, depending on the total of baggage. “The flight arrives in Lubumbashi, and the cargo then transits through to Kinshasa the next day, offering our SA customers both destinations through the same flight,” he said. “And Korongo has indicated that they will be rapidly increasing the flight frequencies, with six a week planned for the end of the year.” Korongo CEO, Christophe Allard, confirmed that the airline was renegotiating with SA authorities to get approval for additional traffic rights, and to start increasing the flight frequencies between SA and the DRC by mid-June. And, under an agreement with owner/ operators, Brussels Airlines, Korongo would offer direct flights between the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, and Brussels from May 1. Brussels Airlines’ efforts to create a subsidiary in the DRC date back to October 2007 when a cooperation with Hewa Bora Airways was announced, which resulted in the establishment of airDC (the name derived from the French pronunciation of RDC, the abbreviation for DR Congo) as a joint-venture. The newly formed airline was scheduled to launch commercial flights out of N’djili Airport during 2008. The date was later postponed indefinitely. In December 2009, Brussels Airlines declared the discontinuation of the airDC project, and the launch of Korongo Airlines as a sequel, with an initial funding of €10 million. Korongo Airlines is 80%- owned by a holding company (which in turn is owned 50.5% by Brussels Airlines and 49.5% by George Forrest International), with the remaining 20% being in the hands of Congolese investors. The company was officially registered on April 13, 2010.