South Africa will have a new cargo airline as Suid Cargo Airlines is poised to launch services in the second quarter.

Suid Cargo Airlines, South Africa's newest Cargo Airline, will begin non scheduled flights from its hub at OR Tambo International Airport in the second quarter of 2023, utilising a leased Boeing 727-200F from Kenya's Astral Aviation Ltd.

Freighter acquisition plans

This is in addition to Astral's Boeing 747-400F, Boeing 767 and Boeing 757F on charter basis.

Making the announcement at the Air Cargo Africa 2023 event in Johannesburg, Thomas Honiball, accountable manager and CEO, states that it plans to acquire additional freighters in 2024, which will comprise of narrow body freighters such as the Airbus 320F or Boeing 737-800F in addition to the Embraer 190 Freighters in 2025.

Sanjeev Gadhia, chief executive of Astral Aviation, welcomed the creation of Suid, which he said would benefit the whole continent as a whole.

"We are honoured to support South Africa's newest cargo airline, Suid Cargo Airlines, initially with our Boeing 727-200F and to offer our fleet of B747-400F, B767F and B757F on charter basis, which will enable the start up Cargo airline to scale its operations to cover Southern, West and East Africa including Asia, Middle East and Europe," Gadhia said.

Sea-air cargo services

Kevin Moodley, commercial director of Suid Cargo Airlines, explained that the new airline would promote exports from South Africa in addition to transit shipments to over 20 African destinations and will have a unique sea-air cargo product from the Ports of Durban and Cape Town, thus reducing transit time to the land locked regions in Africa.

Suid Cargo will enter into long term partnership with freight forwarders, consolidators, integrators, e-commerce retailers and shipping lines in addition to interlining with African and foreign airlines to promote the Johannesburg Hub with plans to transition to scheduled services in 2024, which will include operating a domestic network.