FlightCom Magazine 15
If there was huge consolidation
where should the hubs be?
You could have one in Jo’burg, another
in Nairobi, another in Lagos and another in
maybe Cairo.
What about Addis Ababa?
The high altitude is not good for cargo
loads.
The legacy of colonialism is what
is called a ‘dendritic transport
pattern’ which means that the
transport infrastructure was
designed just to transport goods
from the interior to the ports. Thus
there is very little intra-African
connectivity. So if a business
needs, for example, to get goods
from Nairobi to Bujumbura, is that
the role air cargo now fulfils?
Yes. I have a mission and that is to
see Africa trade with Africa and one of the
requirements for that is transport infrastructure.
Our road network is pathetic and we don’t
have any cross border railways to talk about.
The airlines therefore have a key role to
play in intra-African connectivity. You can
now get vaccines out of Jo’burg and into
Nairobi or Entebbe (or Bujumbura!) the same
day. This is something which road and rail
cannot do within a week. There are some key
freight sectors which can only be done with
air transport. For example pharmaceuticals
which must be maintained at a moderate cabin
temperature.
What about the history of Africa
not trading with Africa?
It’s a big problem. Perhaps because our
ports are just supposed to receive goods
from the interior and feed them out, there is
no linkage across the interior to any other
African country. But an airline like KQ can
do it. We service Juba in Southern Sudan
with reconstruction and humanitarian goods
four times a week. We service Yaoundé,
Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and many
other African destinations. So if we could
just develop aviation, it would enable intra-
African trade. It would create aerotropolises
like Ekurhuleni (where the Cargo conference
was held).
As an aside let me mention that in Kenya
we eat goat meat but it would be great to
be able to put South African beef on our
flights to Nairobi. Our leadership must look
outwards and air cargo has a huge role to play
in unlocking the economic potential in Africa.
How are you dealing with
competition from the Gulf Three?
In the aviation industry competition is very
real. But everybody is saying that Africa is the
next frontier of business growth. So everyone
is looking to exploit Africa – except perhaps
the American airlines who are so sensitive
to security, otherwise they would also be
here eating our lunch and dinner. But we are
not just competing with airlines, we are also
competing with trucks. So, as I have said, the
airlines need to consolidate.Okay, but do you need protection
from the Gulf carriers with their
huge economies of scale and cheap
capital?
Where I went to school we learned that
all forms of protection and subsidies are
dangerous. I think we just need to find our
niche. We do not have to grow as big as they
are. We can be a regional hub, which no one
else can be, and so when I have the chance
I will co-operate with the gulf carriers. I am
not worried. Nairobi is the biggest exporting
airport in Africa in terms of volume – even if
Johannesburg is bigger in terms of value.If Yamoussoukro was ever
implemented would it be good or
bad for you?
I’ve been around for some time.
Ya m o u s s o u k r o w a s s i g n e d m a n y y e a r s
ago yet we still have that protectionism
mentality where we fear that a carrier from a
neighbouring country will steal our lunch. We
have opened our skies to international carriers
but when it’s a neighbouring African carrier
we put up barriers.Let’s talk about security. Are you
managing to maintain standards
that keep the European or even
American customs happy?
Yes. We have an ACC3 validation (air
cargo or mail carriers operating into the EUfrom a third country) for our carrier and we
have an RA3 rating (regulated agent operating
from a third country under the new EU security
regulation EU859) for our handling facility
which means we comply with their safety and
security standards for the carriage of cargo and
courier services. But not all ports comply. So if
we get cargo from Bujumbura which is going
to Amsterdam we have to screen it in Nairobi
which causes additional costs and delays.Is it harder to get these validations
for an African carrier?
Yes. I feel that as Africans we are unfairly
targeted. Terrorism is everywhere. We are
trying to protect the aviation industry but
it should be across the board. The global
notion is that it will only happen with an
African carrier. By looking at the zones that
are predominantly insecure, I think that the
current security situation has been proven to
be a global issue.Yet Kenya has a bigger terrorism
problem than South Africa has at
the moment.
You are as good as your last contract.
Safety and security are our licence to operate.
We c a n n o t c o m p r o m i s e o n t h e m. I w o u l d l i k e
to see it adopted worldwide not just in one
area.Last question – does Nairobi
compete with Addis Ababa to be
the East African hub?
I don’t know if they compete with us – I
just focus on my customers. Competition is
real but the sky is big enough for all of us. ÞBELOW: Kenya Airways Cargo jointly operates
this 747 with KLM Cargo and Air France Cargo.
Murianki is pro-cooperation.