Dube Cargo Terminal: Achieving Top Marks for Service

Since its inception four years ago, Dube TradePort Corporation’s 14 000 square metre Dube Cargo Terminal, located close to the airport’s passenger terminal, has continued to exceed customer expectation. Achieving Top Marks for Service.

With the African aviation industry’s less than satisfactory record, this may seem like quite a statement to make, but the records speak for themselves.

Measured on a variety of parameters, including safety and security of cargo, import and export processes and cargo turn-around time, Dube Cargo Terminal continues to achieve 100% satisfaction on its Service Level Agreements with airline operators.

To date it is the only station in Africa with this achievement and it has maintained a proud record of zero pilferage and theft since opening in 2010, says Petko Atanassov, Dube TradePort’s Senior Manager: Cargo Development, Operations and Security.

Atanassov says the intention is to make Dube Cargo Terminal the preferred facility for importers and exporters in the Southern African region. The Cargo Terminal is one of the most technologically advanced facilities of its kind in Africa. It is the only cargo facility in Africa specifically designed and operated with air cargo security in mind, provides a seamless operation which meets global operational standards and which is directly linked to major commercial centres by a dedicated trucking service, Dube AiRoad.

Further enhancing Dube TradePort Corporation’s reputation as a centre of aviation excellence is the planned development of a Dube TradePort airside platform.

This will comprise an aircraft Maintenance and Repair Operations (MRO), which will enable operators to maintain aircraft in Durban rather than flying to OR Tambo International Airport; a corporate/business aviation hub managed by a soon-to-be-appointed fixed-based operator, hangars and a helicopter pad. Every effort is being made to fast-track this airside facility, which forms part of the development of Dube TradeZone Phase two.

An extension to the Cargo Terminal, enabling the processing of 20ft air containers and larger consignments - which is an important part of the freight operation - is complete and ready to handle these air containers.

Another major project presently underway is the construction of a taxiway, which will connect Dube TradePort’s airside platform with King Shaka International Airport’s taxiway network and runway.

KwaZulu-Natal-based exporters, who use Dube Cargo Terminal enjoy a competitive advantage, created through a well-located, planned and dedicated freight-handling facility. These include planned increased access to markets through an air cargo strategy, lower land transport costs through Dube AiRoad, quicker delivery times and shorter dwell times which lower inventory costs, as well as increased security of consignments as a consequence of the design and operation of the Cargo Terminal.

In addition to excellent security, Dube Cargo Terminal provides for a one-stop, on-site regulatory services environment, comprising Port Health, Customs, Border Police, the Department of Agriculture, South African Police Services and Perishables Products Export Control Board.

Keeping to its stated intention to pay greater attention to the needs of shippers, with a view to re-pricing their lift out of Dube Cargo Terminal, Dube TradePort Corporation’s cargo handling charges are still 30% lower than its competitors, in spite of an 8% increase during 2012, says Atanassov.