Starting July 7, Luxembourg-based cargo airline Cargolux will restore its services to Nairobi and Johannesburg using its B747-8. The flights will operate twice weekly.
This step will bring much-needed relief for the horticulture sector, which suffered massive losses due to a lack of access to its key markets after the pandemic shut down global travel. Nairobi has witnessed a capacity reduction from 5,000 tonnes to 1,300 tonnes in the initial period of lockdown, which increased to 2,800 tonnes by mid-May.
In the beginning of April, Kenya’s national airline not operating flights for carrying essentials has been deliberated during a webinar on April 9 by Logistics Update Africa on 'Delivering cargo in the times of continental contagion: From essential supplies to critical medicines'. Hosea Machuki, CEO, Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK) noted, “We have demand to ship fruits and vegetables out of Nairobi to Europe but the only issue is air freight capacity. Our members are in talks with the government to add more capacity. We are looking at an option in Kenya for passenger aircraft to fly cargo like Ethiopian is doing. We are in talks with Kenya Airways for capacity addition.”
Source: logupdateafrica.com
