Swissport is expanding its cargo centre at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with “a new 750sqm interconnected cold storeroom with direct access from the perishable’s hub to the airside”.
The addition can hold 110 aircraft pallets, or a load that fits on around three B747 freighters, Swissport explained, with four of the six storerooms for perishable cargo and two to hold pharmaceuticals.
In 2022, Swissport in Kenya handled 55,000 tons of cargo in Kenya, of which about 44,000 tons were perishable cargo exported from JKIA, and 75% of which was made up of fresh cut flowers exported to Europe via Swissport’s renowned Fresh Cut Flowers Corridor.
“The Swissport team is very experienced in handling fresh cut flowers – a product that requires a significantly different type of freight built up due to the nature of such produce and the required packaging,” said Racheal Ndegwa, managing director Swissport Kenya.
Swissport said it has installed a vacuum cooler for handling temperature-sensitive cargo. With the ability to cool down two main deck pallets from a starting temperature of 24ºC to 2ºC in 22 minutes, the vacuum cooler will further shorten handling times and mitigate the risk of temperature impact on sensitive cargo.
“Since the launch of our Fresh Cut Flowers Corridor, Swissport in Kenya has been working on perfecting the cool chain solution to deliver a top-quality service which protects the integrity of delicate flowers and maximises the returns for our clients,” said Dirk Goovaerts, global cargo chair at Swissport. “
