AFS (South Africa) has opened a 3,000 square metre cargo handling warehouse facility at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and a 2,340 square metre freight centre at Cape Town International Airport. AFS (South Africa) currently employs 64 fully trained and highly experienced cargo handling staff in Johannesburg and a further 42 employees in Cape Town.
Malcolm Tonkin has been appointed General Manager of the new joint venture company. He joins AFS from Bidvest Panalpina Logistics and previously held the post of General Manager ' Cargo (South Africa) at Menzies Aviation. During his 21-year career, he has also worked for Airline Cargo Resources, International Cargo Gateway, Grindrod Perishable Cargo Agents, Air France Cargo and UTA French Airlines.
Both airport facilities have been fully refurbished and equipped with new pallet handling systems with integral weigh beds, a fleet of new forklift trucks, a pallet master and new dual view x-ray screening machines.
Barry Nassberg, Group Chief Operating Officer of Worldwide Flight Services, said: 'Africa Flight Services (AFS) is a new brand for our expansion plans in Africa. This is an important and growing market for us and we want to give it a dedicated focus but with the ability to draw on all the expertise and resources of the WFS global network. AFS will enable us to enter into local partnerships and joint ventures, and to customise services and tailor resources to the needs of customers in this dynamic and rapidly growing market.
'We are proud to announce Emirates SkyCargo as our launch customer in Johannesburg and Cape Town and we are extremely appreciative of the airline's support of our new partnership with SA Airlink. AFS is the start of an exciting new venture that will see us open additional stations in South Africa and southern Africa as well as expanding into other areas of activity.'
