'Part charters' offer cost-effective option

AS TRADE into Africa continues to spiral, and wide-bodied capacity fails to keep pace, there's a growing demand for airline charters.
But it's a largely unexplored field and for the uninitiated is fraught with pitfalls.
"Understanding charter agreements with all their exclusions and the various aircraft types is a very specialised field," says Aviation GSA general manager Max Mariotti. And it's an area where there are no formalised training programmes and access to experienced operators is hard to find.
A little known option which has been successfully developed over the past two years is that of the 'part charter', says Mariotti.
It's offered by Das Air Cargo,
represented in South Africa by Aviation GSA, on its scheduled flight between Johannesburg and Entebbe. The rate is based on the aircraft operating directly to an advertised destination before continuing to the scheduled destination.
"For example," said Mariotti, "the add-on to the Das Air Entebbe tariff is generally only the additional handling/landing costs incurred by the carrier, with the saving directly benefiting the freight agent who doesn't need to pay for the return leg of the operation or pre pay the services as required by a charter."
The only restriction is that DAS Air requires a minimum of five working days to obtain the necessary permits to alter its scheduled routing.
"The part charter is also based on a strict understanding that the precise details of the cargo to be tendered for carriage remain as booked, as cost and aircraft pallets are calculated on this vital information," Mariotti said. "Any variance on these details would naturally alter the planning of the part charter."
Another option to consider is the use of aircraft available at destinations served by a freighter operator.
Das Air, for example, has an AN12F available for charters in
Entebbe and Lagos, says Mariotti. "This option is cost-effective for destinations within a two hour flying time from the stated hubs. Again this option is more cost effective than having to pay repositioning costs for a freighter
to South Africa had an aircraft been chartered at the point of departure."