New cargo airline to take to the skies
New cargo airline to take to the skies
BA/Comair, Safair and Express Air Services have teamed up to challenge SAA in the air courier industry, in what is a fast-growing regional market. The new airline, Imperial Air Cargo, will commence operations on 1st August.
Safair, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Imperial Group, holds 70% of the new company and BA/Comair 30%. Express Air Services, which is part of the Bidvest group, will be the service provider.
The CEO of Safair, Christo Kok, said that the airline was starting up with leased aircraft and R30m had been invested as working capital for the first year. He expected the company to break even within three to six months, and be profitable thereafter. He said the sub-Saharan air cargo market had outgrown the capacity available, showing the need for a second large carrier, but it was impossible to estimate its real size because a lot of potential air cargo was being transported by road at present.
SAA’s GM for cargo, Patrick Dlamini, said that the domestic market was “growing at a rate of more than 10% a year and we would like to believe that there is certainly room for another player”. He said SAA was “fully prepared for this competition”, which was “very good news for the market and will keep us on our toes”.
The new service will be operating in time for the big rise in cargo between October and December because of the movement of perishable goods and Christmas stock and parcels, which SAA had not always been able to cope with in the past.
Imperial Air Cargo would start with scheduled over-night domestic services, using two 727 freighters flying directly between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and between Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, George and Johannesburg, with a smaller HS 748 carrying cargo between Durban and Johannesburg. A third 727 would be available as back-up.