Regional airline signs up interline agreement with Martinair

PROVIDING A seamless service into Southern
Africa for international import and export
cargo using OR Tambo International Airport as
a transhipment hub is high on the agenda for
Airlink Cargo. A recent interline agreement with
Netherlands-based Martinair is hopefully the first
of several agreements with international carriers.
Largely import-driven, it offers shippers the
option of importing directly to final destination
on the same waybill without having to clear cargo
at Ortia.
“We’re in discussion with various airlines at
the moment and would hope to sign up interline
agreements for cargo to and from the East as
well as exports to Europe,” says Airlink Cargo MD
Alwyn Rautenbach.
“Freight forwarders who are not establishing
a presence in the Southern African market are
missing out on a huge opportunity,” he added.
Airlink has been gradually extending its
footprint in the region with Lusaka and Pemba
among recent additions to its schedule.
“Freight to and from Pemba has been doing
extremely well,” says Rautenbach. “At the
moment we offer two flights a week using a BAE
146 200 which provides us with reasonable cargo
capacity.”
Growing traffic to and from Antananarivo saw
recent addition of a further frequency in October.
The airline now flies four times a week on the
route.
“There’s good demand for cargo, especially
outbound. Business relations between South
Africa and Madagascar are generally positive and
there are all sorts of projects particularly in the
mining sector stimulating growth.”
While road transport is the preferred option
for heavy machinery moving to the copper
mines in the DRC and Zambia, airfreight is a very
attractive alternative for all kinds of spares, says
Rautenbach.
Demand has outstripped capacity on several
routes, he says. “Ndola is doing very well, as are
short routes like Manzini and Maseru, and these
are mainly imports from Europe transhipped from
other carriers.”
Airlink’s comprehensive regional network
currently includes Antananarivo, Beira, Bulawayo,
Harare, Lusaka, Manzini, Maputo, Maseru, Ndola
and Pemba.