Air freight through the Dube TradePort cargo terminal, at King Shaka International Airport, at Durban, spiked sharply during the last quarter of last year, in quarter-on-quarter terms. This quarter-on-quarter increase was 57%, driven by issues at Durban harbour.
“This significant increase in airfreight has been observed across various industries, from perishables to automotive, the latter being traditionally reliant on ocean freight,” reported Dube Cargo Terminal senior manager: cargo development and operations Ricardo Isaac. “This emphasises the need of these industries to ensure uninterrupted production and timely delivery to export markets.”
This data showed that, for industries using or producing time-sensitive commodities, an efficient air cargo alternative was invaluable. The existence of the Dube TradePort had become an important part of their supply chains. Freight through the terminal increased both during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. Data from January indicated that the spike in demand was continuing.
“From September through to December 2023, we saw fruit exports to the Middle East and European markets double in volume compared with the same period last year,” he highlighted. “On the automotive side, in November we saw volumes approximately 30% higher than normal being moved through our airfreight cargo terminal.”