Air Seychelles Cargo records significant improvement in load handled

Air Seychelles has today announced that its cargo department has recorded a significant improvement in the tonnage of load handled at the Seychelles International Airport over the last four months.

Between March and June 2021, Air Seychelles handled a total of 2, 612.45 tons of combined import and export cargo, resulting in a 70% increase in volumes compared to the same period in 2020.

A total of 741.41 tons of cargo were exported out of Seychelles composed mainly of fish products, whilst the total of 1, 871.04 tons of imported cargo included mostly perishable items.

The increase in demand over the past four months has seen Air Seychelles handle a total of 1077.64 tons of cargo in excess versus 1534.81 tons in 2020.

The strong performance driven by a surge in wide bodied aircraft operating to the island from Eastern Europe, the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East and Western Asia following the reopening of Seychelles to global markets, also entailed a rigorous programme of efficiency improvements implemented by the cargo team.

Juliette Pascal, Head of Cargo Operations at Air Seychelles said: “I am proud of the cargo team for delivering this excellent result, amidst the dynamic operating environment.

“Air cargo continues to play an important role in supporting the country’s supply chain and over these past four months we have done our best to meet the needs of the importers and exporters both locally and internationally.

“Despite the challenges being experienced, to increase efficiencies and service reliability, we have introduced an agreed timeline with suppliers for the delivery and pick-up of time sensitive cargo such as pharmaceuticals and perishables to ensure the quality and freshness of the products are maintained.”

The Head of Cargo has also noted that due to the pandemic causing a reduction in travelling and ongoing restrictions at certain destinations, Air Seychelles Ltd, the Global Service Partner for FedEx is also witnessing a huge increase in imported small packages from the United States of America and China.