Brussels Airlines’ Africa cargo traffic in Oct. 2009 was the second highest in its history. GSSA European Cargo Services (ECS) produced over 1,000 tonnes of southbound freight for the carrier during the month – a 97 percent load factor.
ECS markets belly cargo capacity on Brussels Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 flights to 14 destinations across Africa; Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia, Burundi, Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Angola, Kenya and Liberia. In October, the airline completed 103 flights from Brussels into the Africa market with an average load per flight of 10 tonnes.
Guy Hardy, head of cargo sales for the Lufthansa subsidiary said, "Compared to other continents like Asia and North America, Africa has been less affected by the economic crisis. We expect the final revenue outcome for 2009 – a year of damage control for the air cargo industry - to be close to our 2008 result, which is a remarkable result for northbound and southbound Africa combined.
"The first half of 2010 will continue to be difficult but forecasts for the second half of the year look more promising for both trade & travel. As soon as we see signs of a sustained recovery we will be looking to bring additional capacity into our African network by either opening new destinations or increasing frequencies on existing routes,” he added.
AirCargo World
Login
