SAA adds capacity on Nairobi route

South African Airways (SAA) has introduced wide-body aircraft on the Johannesburg–Nairobi route, a move that offers substantial benefits to cargo customers. “We used to get 1000kg of cargo space if we were lucky. With the widebody we’re looking at at least 15 tons per flight,” SAA’s Ronel Rossouw told FTW. “We can now fly lower deck cargo and dimensions increase from 86-160cm in height.” SAA previously operated the Airbus A319 and the Boeing 737-800 into Kenya. These aircraft are now replaced by the Airbus A340-200 and the A340-300. A further bonus is that SAAC can now feed larger shipments from other parts of the world via Johannesburg to Nairobi, said Rossouw. “We are optimistic that this will grow our business and are expecting a fair amount of support from the Eastern Cape.” The airline is also planning to make Windhoek a wide-body route, as well as some Far East flights, in early 2012