Export cargo grounded at Hosea Kutako

Tonnes of export cargo cannot be airlifted at the Hosea Kutako International Airport because the service provider’s screening certification has expired, the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) has confirmed.

Menzies Aviation, which contracted Namibia Protection Services (NPS) to conduct secondary cargo screening services, is the authorised ground-handling agent at the country’s biggest airport.

The situation has been ongoing since the first week of April, with no end in sight as of yet.

Airlines currently making use of the airport include Eurowings, TAAG Angola, Airlink, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, FlyNamibia and South African Airways.

Industry sources said NPS’s certification lapsed and it could therefore not continue doing its work.

As per airport protocol, primary cargo screening is done by the Namibian Police and secondary screening by the ground handler.

With air cargo agents forced to halt their business of moving their export freight on airlines, clients have to make peace with the fact that they either have to fork out additional funds to make alternative transport arrangements, or risk having their perishable cargo go bad if the matter is not resolved.

The situation has become so dire that some exporters have resorted to chartering planes and making use of trucks to move their cargo to South Africa, and then subsequently airlifting it to end users across the world.

Tread carefully

Due to the certification impasse, Qatar Airways recently announced that it has placed an embargo on all cargo exports from Windhoek until further notice.

“All shipments on tomorrow’s flight and going forward will be cancelled until we receive approval to proceed again,” read an email from the airline to its clients last week.

The airport’s current cargo export ban is allegedly not sitting well with the NAC leadership.

However, sources said NAC must tread carefully because of its strained relationship with Menzies.

NAC and Menzies are currently in court after the latter dragged the airport company to court for not renewing its ground-handling contract, which it held since 2014.

It is understood that the NAC wants cargo exports to resume, despite the certification woes.

“NAC argues that [the Namibian Police] can conduct the primary screening while the service provider is sorting out its certification issues, because [the police are] certified by the regulator.

“At the moment, it seems NAC does not want to impose itself because of the ongoing court case,” a source close to the matter said.

Some air cargo agents have since taken up the issue with aviation authorities, seeking intervention in the matter.

Working on it

NAC CEO Bisey Uirab said he is aware of the situation, “but it’s only on outbound cargo, specifically to the European Union market.”

“Cargo has two screening processes, a primary by the Namibian Police and a secondary screening, which is handled by the ground handler, Menzies Aviation. The security personnel Menzies is currently utilising, NPS, has not achieved recertification at this stage,” he explained.

“Finally, it should be noted that the screening certificate issuing authority is the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and that engagements between NCAA, NPS and Menzies are ongoing,” he said.

Big problems

While the abrupt shutdown of the air cargo services has come as a big setback to all users, some businesses said the situation has huge financial implications on their operations.

One such company is the Merlus Group, which exports its fish via the airport.

Its chairman Stanley Katzao described the shutdown as a “big problem”.

“This situation has negatively impacted us because we are forced to reroute and send our fish products to Johannesburg and then airlift it to the end market. The change in logistic shortens the window to transport our products to the end users and we are incurring extra costs,” he lamented.