Kenya Airways is considering adding new cargo flights to China as Sino-Africa trade grows, an official said on Monday.
Dick Murianki, Director of Kenya Airways Cargo told Xinhua in Nairobi that the airline has been experiencing increased demand for air freight between China and the African countries that it operates in.
"We currently fly into Guangzhou but we are looking at going into other cities. Shanghai looks interesting but we have not yet made a decision," Murianki made the remarks when the Kenyan airline signed a cooperation agreement with the Kenya fresh produce exporters.
The national flag carrier said that it currently operates one cargo and two passenger flights per week between the two countries.
Murianki said that by flying to more Chinese cities, it will be able to diversify the variety of goods brought into the continent as each city produces a different product.
Murianki said that it typically ferries goods from South, East and West Africa to China through Nairobi as a regional aviation hub.
He noted that currently, Africa is importing a lot of items related to the prevention of COVID-19 such as personal protective equipment (PPE) from China.
"Now people are also importing machines to produce PPEs as well as general merchandise that is brought to Nairobi for onward distribution to other African countries," he added.
Murianki noted that the airline exports from Africa seafood such as lobster and crabs as well as flowers to the Asian nation.
"We are able to bring more Chinese goods to Africa per flight because it is mostly dry cargo which means we can also use passenger planes for the freight compared to exports to China which consist of wet cargo," he revealed.