New local airline Khuphuka Kings Airways would in February start regular cargo flights into Africa from Durban’s Dube TradePort, which hosted the King Shaka International Airport in KwaZulu-Natal.

The airline, owned by Khuphuka Investments Holdings, had secured scheduled flights between Durban and Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with stop-overs at Ndola, in Zambia.

The Dube TradePort said, currently, about 85% of KwaZulu-Natal-based companies with goods destined for other parts of Africa delivered their airfreight to Gauteng by road to fly it out from OR Tambo International Airport, in Kempton Park.

“With the introduction of new scheduled flights from Durban into various parts of Africa, local companies will be in a position to reduce transport costs and time by negating the need for the road-freight leg,” Khuphuka Kings Airways said.

The airline would use three aircraft for its cargo flights into Africa, comprising two ILyushin 76 cargo planes and one Antonov-An 12 cargo aircraft.

The two ILyushin 76 planes each had a carrying capacity of 46 t. The Dube TradePort said in a statement that this aircraft compared most favourably with a Boeing 777, which had a 30 t capacity.

“The ILyushin 76 aircraft enjoy the added benefit of having an incredible range, ensuring Khuphuka Kings Airways' capacity to airlift cargo to any destination in the world,” the organisation added.

The Antonov-An 12, with a carrying capacity of 20 t would assist in supplementing loads on the route.

Meanwhile, Dube TradePort CEO Saxen van Coller said the company was working to build rapid cargo growth and aimed to significantly increase direct air services to and from King Shaka International Airport, transforming KwaZulu-Natal into South Africa’s primary alternative gateway.

"In broad terms, our cargo strategy is to target routes in East, Central and West Africa before looking to expand globally, inclusive of the Far East, North America and Europe. The launch of this new route will most certainly serve to increase connectivity between Durban and Central Africa, assisting in the generation of economic efficiencies for our local business community,” she said.

Further, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development and Tourism Michael Mabuyakhulu pointed out that the public sector's investment in appropriate infrastructure at Dube TradePort had proven to be a critical component in the economic development of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Such development has created wonderful opportunities for local investment to be channelled into viable projects such as Khuphuka Kings Airways. This investment will undoubtedly have a positive knock-on effect in terms of other enterprises within the province, providing them with unprecedented access to a growing number of countries on the continent,” he said.

Although Khuphuka Kings Airways would initially start operations in the cargo field, plans were also in place to introduce passenger aircraft to the route and to later expand into other parts of Africa.