News / KQ and TAAG look to boost regional African markets with 737-800Fs

Photo - TAAG

Kenya Airways and TAAG Angola Airlines are injecting extra cargo capacity to regional markets, using 737-800 freighters, according to the carriers.

Kenya Airways Cargo (KQ Cargo) director Dick Murianki said the airline had expanded its route network to include direct flights between Sharjah in the UAE and Mogadishu in Somalia.

The new KQ service was launched last Friday with a 737-800F on a weekly rotation, with plans to increase frequency to twice weekly from April.

KQ anticipates significant demand for cargo between the UAE and Somalia, with a particular appetite for hi-tech consumer goods, automotive parts, project cargo and clothing. The route is complemented by Dubai’s humanitarian and project-driven traffic.

Kannan Nachiappan, CEO of UAE-based Global GSA Cargo, KQ’s logistics partner, said the route would offer more capacity in the market, cut transit times and reduce costs. He said the UAE was a primary gateway to Africa and a dedicated freighter to service would also offer scheduled main deck capacity into several remote destinations across the region.

“This service would cover a market characterised by narrowbody belly-only options, lengthy transit times and expensive rates,” he explained.

Meanwhile, TAAG Angola introduced a 24-ton 737-800F in December last year, initially for non-regular cargo services linking Angolan capital Luanda and Lagos in Nigeria, connecting two major African economies and said to be the first step in positioning the airline to “progressively increase its footprint within the regional African air cargo market”.

Angola and Nigeria are top oil producers in Africa, but trade and economic activity between them is, bizarrely, limited and during a forum this month by the Angola-Nigeria Business Council, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo called for increased bilateral relations between the two nations.

An increase in air cargo services would open up capacity, especially for oil-related cargo. Last week, TAAG revised its operations and launched scheduled services between Luanda and Lagos, and also to Brazzaville in Republic of Congo, from the new Luanda International Airport.

TAAG expects regional connectivity to also provide capacity for niche cargo, and facilitate more import and export movement in the region. In January, the carrier shipped some 1,000 tonnes of diverse cargo between domestic, regional and international destinations.

TAAG’s recently delivered 737-800F has main deck capacity of 141.5 cubic metres, while the lower deck provides 43.7 cu m for bulk cargo. It can accommodate 10 contoured 96in x 125in pallets.

Availability of 737-800 freighter aircraft is currently quite high. According to Aviation Week Network’s 2024 Commercial Aviation Fleet & MRO Forecast, 4,258 are in service, 330 are parked and 121 are stored.

These numbers may suggest that despite huge demand for 737-800Fs, they are not entering the market as rapidly as was envisaged and and oversupply may be building up of converted, but unplaced, aircraft – and conversion slots are extremely hard to find.