SAA proffers peak season lifeline

... but warns of withdrawal if cargo is scarce, writes Ray Smuts UNSATISFACTORY CARGO yields out of Cape Town notwithstanding, SAA Cargo has walked the proverbial 'extra mile' and this month introduced a Boeing 747 passenger/cargo service this month between the Mother City and Johannesburg. At the same time the carrier withdrew its 737-200 freighter departing Cape Town daily at 12:30, but it will be reintroduced by volume demand. "The (Cape Town freighter) guys need therefore not become nervous, but capacity ultimately needs to be paid for," says SAA Cargo's business development manager Neil Harris. He warned however that this latest move to accommodate shippers was the acid test, as he put it. "If our capacity does not move from the present 60% to 95% during the peak season two months hence we will have to reconsider our capacity supply." Harris admits the situation does not look that rosy right now but comments: "We need to see what the peak season might bring. "I am optimistic but I am only as strong as the optimism coming from the agents who are already expressing concern that they may run out of airline capacity. "The problem is nobody wants to put their money where their mouth is and give us figures and forecasts. That is the 'Catch 22' situation and the frustration we are experiencing. "We have proved that current domestic capacity out of Cape Town outstrips demand and we need to optimise capacity in order to match demand with capacity as equally and accurately as possible." SAA Cargo's responsibility first and foremost, as Harris emphasises, is toward the market, "but we are running a business and are not flying for fun!" Harris, in an endeavour to accommodate flower producers to a greater degree, recently formed a working committee comprising himself, Cape Town assistant manager operations John Coetzee, Cape Town station manager Wilmot Makaza, and representatives from JJ's Airfreight, Berry and Donaldson, TRT Airfreight and Ršhlig. The mandate to these companies is to come up with expected volumes during the peak season. Jason Schouw, a director of JJ's Airfreight, told FTW the newly-announced 747 schedule would prove a boon for shippers and said 'open lines' of communication now existed between SAA Cargo and the Cape freight community. What is certain is that business is down in the Cape of late and the horrendous weather currently being experienced has certainly impacted negatively on fish exports in particular. Schouw confirmed, after gleaning information from industry sources, that lobster and abalone consignments were down by about 80% and hake down by some 70% due to the adverse weather. The new 747 schedule launched on September 1 has a 20-ton unitised cargo capacity.