Since the start of this year’s summer schedule, KLM/Martinair Cargo has sharply reduced its Africa freighter offer. While Johannesburg (JNB) and Nairobi (NBO) are down from five to three weekly flights, Harare (HRE) in Zimbabwe which was served by Martinair’s B747 freighters, has completely been taken out of the carrier’s Africa network.
The decision to stop serving HRE is the result of unstable cargo volumes out of Zimbabwe, a lack of maintenance and technical facilities at HRE, and an overall alignment of the carrier’s global freighter network. Managing Director, Pim de Wit, of Zimbabwe-based Tiger Freight, added that frequent 48-hour delays, flight cancellations, and rescheduling severely impacted the Dutch airline’s HRE operations.
Imbalances in capacity usage
The carrier’s move is part of broader capacity challenges affecting the entire East African region. Limited southbound demand into South Africa has impacted the viability of freighter operations, while increased demand for perishable exports to the Middle East has further constrained available capacity to Europe, argues Gerard Roelfzema, Cargo Press Relations Officer at Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo. He went on to say: “Despite these challenges, we remain committed to serving Africa through our optimized freighter routes via Johannesburg and Nairobi, supported by ample belly capacity on Air France and KLM passenger flights.”
Freighter flights to Hong Kong via Dubai (DWC), which are now offered six times a week, are benefitting from the downscaled African services. The main reason for this route adjustment is the booming e-commerce business on routes between the Far East and Europe.
Looking for viable solutions
Harare’s Tiger Freight Management assured clients that the company is exploring measures to mitigate the impending disruption. Solutions may come in the form of alternative routes, where capacity remains available for airfreight goods. This includes partnering with Ethiopian Airlines to provide direct connections from Harare to Addis Ababa, supplemented by freighter flights to Europe.
In contrast to the Amsterdam network of KLM and MP, there are no changes to Air France’s freighter flights compared to the winter flight schedule.
