Strong collaboration to expand capacity at TAAG Angolan Airlines resulted in a record-breaking shipment of specialised industrial equipment from Johannesburg via Luanda to Rio de Janeiro in April. The bulk weight of the entire shipment, was 210 tonnes. “It was really meant to go by sea seeing as it was project cargo,” says Ronel Rossouw, TAAG’s cargo manager for southern Africa. “But because we fly 777 Boeings we realised it was possible as we can handle 40 tonnes at a time.” Rossouw adds that it was “touch and go for TAAG which had never handled such a shipment flying out of Luanda.” “Thankfully everyone pulled together to pull it off, breaking the shipment up into nine pallets of 32 tonnes each, from the flight deck crew to our ground handlers
in both Johannesburg and Luanda.” Had it not been for TAAG’s can-do attitude, the cargo consignment would have been lost for South Africa in totality as other countries were also competing for the same order. Brazilian authorities stipulated that the shipment had to be of a certain size, comprising pallets no smaller than 32 tonnes, if the cargo was to enter via Rio. According to Rossouw no other airline in South Africa was in a position to handle such a sizeable shipment in one go. “We have 99% market share of freight going into
Luanda from South Africa and with fluctuations in the oil price impacting on Angola’s economy and cargo into that country dropping, we had to find alternatives to fill capacity. “Part of the solution was to look at available capacity and how differently that can be applied. It led us to look at where our market strengths are and how these can work in our favour through renewed marketing.” Leading the charge is Gregory Epps, an airline veteran with extensive experience from a lengthy stint in Germany followed by several years in senior airline positions. “Our target has become to look beyond Luanda and
currently we’re sitting on 60% market share of air cargo shipped from South Africa to Brazil and 48% into Portugal.
The numbers are increasing and we are encouraged by the market response to our services in these sectors.”
Our target has become to look beyond Luanda and currently we’re sitting on 60% market share of air cargo shipped from South Africa to Brazil. – Ronel Rossouw
