The discussion below represents a likely supply-chain in Air freight. The East London Airport Case Study is used to give context of parties required to move cargo. Importantly, it starts to demonstrate all the processes, infrastructure, procedures, etc required in order to facilitate air freight operations:  

 

      i.                Aircraft; 

     ii.                ATC; 

    iii.                Runways; 

   iv.                Airside infrastructure; 

    v.                Airport charges; 

   vi.                Cargo handling equipment; 

  vii.                Qualified staff; 

 viii.                 SAA cargo warehouse; 

   ix.                Procedures and regulations; 

    x.                Computerization;  

   xi.                Cargo transporters; 

  xii.                Landside infrastructure; 

 xiii.                 ELS road infrastructure; 

 xiv.                 Receiver/sender. 

 

In order to make a proper calculation we assume that there is an unlimited demand and supply of air cargo. 

 

i.   Aircraft  

The type of aircraft used on a cargo route has drastic impact on the entire cargo chain. Not only the ground equipment has to be able to on and offload the aircraft, also the warehouse and couriers have to cope with the maximum dimensions of the aircraft. The maximum cargo an aircraft ever carried to ELS airport was a half loaded Airbus A300. However, this was an exception, and it is more realistic to take a ‘normal’ aircraft freighter size. The most usual aircraft is the Boeing 737 freighter with a maximum cargo capacity of 16 ton. 

 

ii.   ATC 

The operational hours of ATC are from 06:30 till 20:30 local time. This time interval can be seen as a bottleneck because most cargo flights take place at night. Couriers would like to deliver the goods to the customers between 8 or 9 but with the current operational hours this is delayed. Within the operational hours, cargo flights can land directly without delays caused by holding time. 

 

iii.   Runways  

The airport has two runways. The main runway is 1935 meters long and can accommodate an Airbus A300 if necessary. In comparison with large cargo hubs, this runway is particularly short and large international cargo flights are not feasible, because the aircraft can only take half the maximum capacity. The condition of the runway is medium and the aircraft that could be rejected due to severe wind are close to 0%. 

 

iv.   Airside infrastructure 

The taxiways width is 23 meters, and the main obstacles on both sides do not limit aircrafts with a large wingspan. The infrastructure can accommodate a large aircraft. The ramp has 4 passengers’ aircraft parking/handling spaces and a designated area for GA. The cargo handling ramp can only facilitate one 737 aircraft, which is taken into account in the calculation. In case of space shortages, one freighter can be facilitated at GA area but operational conditions would be an inconvenience because GA has no place to park. This is a large bottleneck if the airport wants to increase the cargo capacity, because the loading and unloading of such an aircraft takes about 2 hours total. The size of the cargo parking area is relatively small. 

 

v.   Airport charges 

Landing and parking charges are the main expenses toward the airport. The parking charges are centrally organized by government. If an airport decides to build a new terminal, the airlines and the government will have to agree. The landing and parking fees are revised every five years. The charges at ELS are still within limits, looking at the large number of GA flights that still uses this airport. This amount will not threaten the airfreight market.        

 

vi.   Equity cargo handling equipment 

The handling agent Equity is able to cope with any growth at the airport. New equipment together with a good handling price should not result in any bottlenecks.  

 

 

vii.   Qualified staff 

Because of the high rate of unemployment, enough people can fill the vacancies. The qualification of people can take more time because of the shortage of suitable skills.  

 

viii.   SAA warehouse 

The warehouse is dealing with increasing numbers of cargo, but cannot extend in dimensions due to land space shortage. The SAA general manager indicated that the warehouse can handle about 40 tons, i.e. a total of about 24 container spaces with some extra space is available. A fully loaded 737 contains 12 containers. The warehouse can never import 12 containers and export directly 12 outbound containers, because there is no space to separate consolidated cargo onto the couriers and no space available for stock purposes. The outbound flow has to wait for the inbound flow, which in general means a wait of 1.5 hour before handling any outbound traffic.   Normally a morning flight transports about 7 containers and one pallet and already some jam occurs in the morning, when couriers want to pick up their items. The lack of space also results in delays and the rejection of request to store products for longer periods of time. 

 

ix.   Procedures and regulations 

To import and export products, two factors have to be taken into account, namely, safety and security. The warehouse and the airport do comply with these demands. Goods imported or exported overseas do not always pass customs at Johannesburg International Airport (JIA). Some shipments are directly transported to ELS, and are awaiting to get clearance from customs. Customs can take from 3 days to a week to clear the cargo, resulting in a delay for the customer. Customs have to drive to the warehouse to physically inspect it. When cargo is exported to Europe, the cargo is delivered at customs located at the harbour, which will release the shipment when the paperwork is done.     

 

x.   Computerization  

The use of computers in the cargo chain is crucial, especially for tracking and tracing. Transforming analogue data into digital can take up several minutes. At the SAA warehouse, the computer is already central in the whole process. Tracking and tracing but also the weight and balancing of the aircraft are calculated with the computer. More cargo results in more computer activities, more staff required and finally more space required. 

 

xi.        Cargo transporters  

As previously mentioned 60% of SAA cargo is transported on the road. A big truck is used to transport the cargo to and from Johannesburg. On the backside of the warehouse some parking space is available to load and unload the truck. Space to unload and load a second truck is not available or for couriers export and import packages. Usually small volumes of goods are handled, and declared by the cargo office. The couriers usually make use of smaller trucks.   

 

xii.       Landside infrastructure 

The road structure on the airport is very simple, but cannot cope with large volumes of traffic. A two way road is available between the cargo warehouse and the public road. In case the truck needs to leave the airports terrain, it has to cross the road heading into the other direction, which can lead to some delays. Aged roads are not calculated by heavy trucks and shows signs of rapid wear or potholes. The airport does not experience these kind of complaints yet. 

 

xiii.      ELS infrastructure  

Infrastructure is relatively good, but it cannot compete with the standards in Europe. EL has the same problem, because only one road passes the Buffalo River that connects Daimler Chrysler, the IDZ zone and the airport with the city of ELS. Trucks that have to make use of intersections that are not equipped with traffic lights on this road and cause traffic jams if they want to cross over. Trucks have to pass downtown city traffic most of the time. The maximum allowed length of a truck is about 22 meters, and often trucks need a large turning radius. Some intersections are not calculated on this. At peak hours, traffic jams occur due to under capacity near downtown, resulting in delays.    

 

xiv.        Receiver/Sender  

The sender/receiver is the first or final subpart of the cargo chain. If the appropriate person lives on an accessible location and deliver the shipped product in a proper condition, the time to hand over should not be any problem. The product is registered or confirmed with the intended owner.