14 FlightCom Magazine
MR DICK MURIANKI
GM Kenya Airways Cargo
Is cargo profitable?
Ye s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e n i t i s c o m b i n e d w i t h p a s s e n g e r s. W h e n y o u u s e
the belly of a passenger airliner it complements the revenue from the
passengers. Cargo by itself is a challenge as it is one way traffic. Unlike
passengers who return to their homes, cargo doesn’t have a return ticket.
So you have to get other sources of cargo, which can be a challenge in
this part of the world.Africa, apart from South Africa, which has significant manufacturing
capacity, is a net importer of finished products. We import machinery
and spare parts and textiles and pharmaceuticals. What we export from
Africa is raw materials like oil and minerals which are not suitable for
air transport. For example, very little cargo goes to India but we import a
lot from India. The only routes on which we do dual traffic are Europe-
Africa. We send fresh flowers and get back machinery. At least there’s
some balance in that.Kenya has made a major investment in air cargo
by having built a dedicated fresh produce handling
facility. Has this been a good investment?
Ye s , m o s t o f o u r e x p o r t s a r e p e r i s h a b l e f l o w e r s a n d v e g e t a b l e s
which constitute about 70% of our exports by volume. We usually put
this freight underfloor but we also run two dedicated Boeing 737-300
freighters for more general cargo within the central and southern African
region.Do you carry cargo only for Kenya or for other
countries as well?
We a l s o d o f l o w e r s a n d v e g e t a b l e s t o E u r o p e f r o m L u s a k a v i a
Nairobi. This gives Zambia an essential gateway. Even though we carry
cargo from Lusaka I believe Zambia must not try to start its own airline.
Instead African airlines must consolidate. The aviation industry is not
as easy as it looks from the outside. Most countries struggle to maintain
their airlines. If I were to have my way there would just be one or two
large airlines in Africa, but with different hubs. There must be more
consolidation rather than segmentation.Must it be full consolidation and not just co-operation
such as codeshare agreements? Does codesharing
work for non ‘self-loading cargo’?
Ye s , t h e r e a r e a l o t o f a l l i a n c e s f o r c a r g o u s i n g c o d e s h a r e. We h a v e
many interlining agreements. Thus, if we send cargo to Australia we
interline with SAA through Johannesburg to Perth or Qantas to Sydney.
Similarly Kenya Airways (KQ) does not fly to Windhoek so we interline
with Air Namibia.Under the leadership of Mr Dick Murianki, Kenya Airways is leading the
development of cargo services in Africa. Guy Leitch spoke to him at the
Air Cargo Africa conference.
Mr Dick Murianki, GM Kenya Airways Cargo.Face to Face
TexT: Guy LeiTch