SAA cancels CT flights through lack of cargo

Ray Smuts AIRFREIGHT DILEMMA? What airfreight dilemma? Earlier this year, Cape Town's freighter community was bemoaning its fate; so much cargo, so little airfreight capacity. Now it appears the other way round - too little cargo to satisfy SAA Cargo; so much so that the carrier has been forced to cancel scheduled flights out of Cape Town on several occasions, confirms Cape area sales manager Martin Upton. "If there was 50% occupancy we would have let those 12.30 p.m. flights go but there have been instances when there was absolutely zilch cargo," says Upton, adding: "Everyone is hoping the situation will change for the better when the flower season starts." Gavin Cooper, Cape chairman of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF), says everybody agrees that cargo volumes out of Cape Town have dropped dramatically but admits to being appalled at learning SAA had been obliged to cancel a number of flights. "When we started this whole thing (campaigning for more airfreight capacity) business was relatively good, but now that we have solved the problem (of capacity) business is right down! In reality there just isn't the business we thought or hoped there was." SAA Cargo's business development manager Neil Harris points out that operating a Boeing 737-200 freighter is not exactly cheap - R178 000 for the Cape Town-Johannesburg round trip. "We are saying we can get capacity in the air when they (Cape freighters) want it and are prepared to pay for it. "We say give us volumes to help us prepare for the peak season but nobody is prepared to come forward with forecasts based on individual company volumes. "When we then say we don't know how they want us to assist them they run scared and run to the Cape Chamber saying we don't want to help." Harris makes the point that finding suitable charter aircraft in South Africa presents no problem and that it is indeed possible to secure aircraft at substantially lower costs than the 13-ton capacity Boeing 737-200. Chartering a Hawker Siddley with capacity of five-tons would cost less than half that of the Boeing, for example. Illiustrating how accommodating SAA Cargo has tried to be on rates, Harris says R7/kg was the figure initially sought from the abalone and lobster players but they countered they could not possibly absorb such an amount in their markets. "My response was that I would then structure a rate starting at R4,75/kg and increase it to R6,20/kg in four months' time but that we would need to see R7/kg by March next year." Harris says he explained "in no uncertain terms" that the best yield would ultimately win the day. "If courier industry volumes start increasing and they give is the likes of R8/kg you must know we are going to prefer their cargo because they are giving us a return. "Ours is a highly capital intensive business so cost recovery is really the driver and I can assure you we do not work on very attractive margins."