From its hub at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, the airline will start non-scheduled services using a Boeing 727-200F leased from Astral Aviation, in addition to Astral’s B747-400F, B767F and B757F on a charter basis.
The announcement was made at the Air Cargo Africa 2023 conference in Johannesburg where Thomas Honiball, Accountable Manager and CEO stated that the plan is to acquire additional freighters in 2024, either Airbus A320Fs or Boeing 737-800Fs, and Embraer 190s in 2025.
Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation, says, “We are honoured to support South Africa’s newest Cargo Airline, Suid Cargo Airlines, initially with our Boeing 727-200F and to offer our fleet of B747-400F, B767F and B757F on charter basis, which will enable the start up Cargo airline to scale its operations to cover Southern, West and East Africa including Asia, Middle East and Europe.”
Suid Cargo Airlines will enter into long-term partnerships with freight forwarders, consolidators, integrators, e-commerce retailers and shipping lines in addition to interlining with African and foreign airlines.
Scheduled services are planned from 2024, which will include operating a domestic network.