Along with its new daily service between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi, SAA Cargo has moved its Middle East/ India hub to the Abu Dhabi International Airport (ADIA). It replaces the former hub at Mumbai in India. Although SAA’s Mumbai flights have now been suspended, SAA Cargo has kept its office open and will now ship Indian cargoes via Abu Dhabi. This new hub will be served by SAA’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which has a rated cargo capacity of 70 tonnes. “We see this as a gateway to the Middle East, and are very happy to start exploring this marketplace,” said Ronel Rossouw, sales manager of SAA Cargo. “But we will also service Indian traffic through the Abu Dhabi hub, and also cargo to and from the Far East. We also want to start feeding cargo from other parts of the world through this hub.” Although the Middle East is not a major route out of SA, Rossouw still described its cargo volumes as “very good”. “There’s a big market transporting pharmaceuticals into Africa from India, and shipping perishables – like flowers, tobacco and cocoa – from Africa outwards.” Also, with SAA Cargo having established a trucking service between Abu Dhabi and the Gulf’s main product sales and distribution marketplace of Dubai, highvalue, high-tech electronic products are also a major incoming traffic from there and Indian sources. “We also offer overseas customers SAA’s widespread African network of flights,” Rossouw added. “So we can hub into the rest of the African continent through OR Tambo International Airport (Ortia) on a much grander scale than any other airline.” INSERT & CAPTION We will service Indian traffic through the Abu Dhabi hub, and also cargo to and from the Far East. – Ronel Rossouw CAPTION SAA's Airbus A330-200.
