Units ‘snapped up’ at new Dube Tradeport

Units at the private sector agents building, only 50-metres from the cargo terminal of the new King Shaka International Airport in KwaZulu Natal (due to open in May next year), “are selling like hot cakes”, according to Hamish Erskine of Dube Tradeport – the provincial authority body responsible for the cargo side of the new airport facility. Since these 24 standard units making up the 12 000-m2 airfreight logistics building – 9 000-m2 in warehousing and 3 000-m2 in office space – were put up for grabs in August, 19 units have been let, and only five remain, he told FTW. “There is strong interest in the remainder,” he said, “and we are convinced we’ll fill the building soon.” This followed confirmation from Dube that the general cargo section of the 15 000-m2 airport cargo terminal – aimed at handling an initial capacity of 100 000-tonnes of cargo a year – is to be operated by the Frenchbased terminal operators, Worldwide Freight Services (WFS). The section of the terminal reserved for private airline operators is to be shared between South African Airways (SAA), Express Air Services (EAS) and Airlink International Cargo. WFS has 124 stations operating around the world, and King Shaka is the location of its second terminal in Africa – following its opening in Nairobi Airport, Kenya. “We selected this company,” said Erskine, “because they have established similar strategies to our own – and are able to handle any terminal, from 20 000 to 100 000-tonnes capacity. According to Erskine, the R8-billion airport development, of which the cargo section is part, must be seen as a longterm investment. “It is designed to satisfy KwaZulu Natal’s air cargo needs for the next 60 years,” he said.