Smaller markets make challenges manageable

Africa is not for the fainthearted,
says Garry Marshall,
managing director of BidAir
Cargo, although when it comes
to airfreight, markets are
relatively small, making most
of the challenges manageable.
In addition to operations
in South Africa, Namibia,
Zimbabwe and Zambia, the
company recently opened
in Uganda and Tanzania,
extending its African reach
even further.
“From our perspective we
see quite high growth potential
for Africa, but it is off a small
base affecting profit potential,”
says Marshall. “Our expertise
lies in partnering with
African airlines that are more
passenger-orientated and have
no cargo proficiency. Our role
is to provide the airline with a
profitable cargo operation and
network at zero risk and cost
to the airlines. Their entire
cargo operation is outsourced
to us, including personnel,
premises, sales and systems.
With a network in place
representing these airlines in
Southern and Eastern Africa,
we have the expertise and
resources available to represent
international airlines in the
more conventional GSSA/
handling arena.”
Having worked in Africa
extensively, Marshall believes
local knowledge is key for
successful operations.
“We tend to employ local
personnel, but because our
business model is unique,
we support it strongly from
our base in South Africa,”
he says. “As airline partners,
compliance is non-negotiable,
particularly when it comes
to safety and processes.
Airports all over the world are
constrained environments and
we struggle with the limited
facilities. In South Africa we
are well established at all the
primary airports, but in the
rest of our African network
this is problematic. The
markets, however, are small so
the problems are manageable.”
Marshall says the challenge
in airfreighting to Africa is
that one has to be cautious in
the approach and this restricts
network expansion.
“Political stability, a
sound and honest business
environment and market
potential are key elements
of our growth. We see a
maturation of African markets,
but the real issue is mostly
that the markets are small
relative to developed countries
and we need to take this into
consideration when deciding
on investment.”