Merchant Express Cargo Airlines Limited has been appointed as GSSA (General Sales and Service Agent), to Turkish Cargo in Nigeria.
Merchant Express, a GSSA to several international air carriers, is a Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) authorised agent of foreign airlines and a Nigerian Customs Licenced Clearing and Forwarding Agent.
Although Merchant Express Cargo Airlines operations had for some time been slowed down during the era of Covid-19, but have rebounded and are now ready to take not less than 70 percent of the cargo market share in the country.
With the status of a representative in Nigeria, Turkish Cargo, which is one of the biggest players globally will now enjoy the full professional cargo management expertise that Merchant Express has always been known to render to its clients.
Speaking on the new collaboration on Wednesday,in their Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) office in Lagos, Merchant Express Executive Director, Captain Samuel Akinyele Caulcrick, said that with the new development, Merchant Express Cargo Airlines will be responsible for Turkish Cargo operations in Nigeria.
Capt Caulcrick emphasised that Merchant Express never stopped operations at any time and that what they are doing now is just a continuation and resuscitation of business disrupted by COVID-19.
Caulcrick also noted that it was not only Merchant Express that was affected by the pandemic but was clearly a global phenomenon in the cargo market.
On the choice of Turkish Cargo for the collaboration, he said: “I want to say Turkish came at the right time because of their reach. Turkey has one of the largest networks because of their position globally just like Nigeria. When you want to move goods to where our customers want to be, Istanbul in Turkey is the geo-centre plus their reach. To build it is a pattern.”
On what they would leverage, for a start, the Director added that “everybody is talking about export. And as an agrarian society, we want to start with agricultural products. Our Agric exports have been the subject of rejection at destinations. Nigeria used to be a top export of rice in the 50s before oil came and everything went down. So we are coming back. We were able to recognize the fact of why they are rejecting our exports from our customers forum held on the 16th of November this year in Lagos. We have a glimpse of why we are being rejected and we will fix that. Everyone wants to be able to get back to what it was and to correct the shortcomings.
Corroborating Capt Caulcrick, a Senior management member of Merchant Express, Mr Kingsley Nwokeoma, said that the company being a GSSA to Turkish Cargo means that what they do for Turkish now is representing the airline on exports.
Nwokeoma, who is also the President of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), however, emphasised that “all their exports out of Nigeria including that from Lagos, Abuja, PH, Kano will be handled by us. Merchant Express has been appointed to represent them. Unlike before, when you now go to Turkish Cargo for any enquiries, the airline will always direct you to come to us whenever you need anything from them.”
Acknowledging the fact that export is a challenging business, Nwokeoma assured that Merchant Express has been in it for a long time and, therefore, remains the market leader when it comes to GSA in Nigeria.
According to him, “Merchant Express has in the past, handled effectively, airlines such as Etihad, Cargolux, Cargo Italia, Saudi Arabia airline, Ghana Cargo etc., adding that they will explore and build this marriage between them and Turkish Cargo to be the number one in Nigeria.
“With the partner, we expect we are going to surpass where we have been”, Nwokeoma added.
Explaining that their partnership with Turkish Cargo does not invalidate earlier collaboration with other airlines, he stated that “we are still with them. It doesn’t invalidate our partnership with Cagolux. We are still expecting them to come back to Africa. We are ready to satisfy our customers and offer top-notch customer service. As we saw at the forum, our doors are always open. We are here to deliver quick and efficient customer services and treat them like the king they are.”
Promising that Merchant Express will be fully involved in the quality control of their clients so as to return them to profitability, Nwokeoma said, “We will be involved in the quality control aspect because our duty is to ensure that they succeed. For example, we will be involved in the packaging of their products so that they will be accepted globally. We have discovered that some of the items from Nigeria do not make the market shelf. The best grades are the ones found on the shelf. The A grades are the ones that enable them to realize their money”.
Turkish has six cargo flights coming in weekly. Merchant Express will do five flights weekly. We are ready and Turkish has spread. I am sure this partnership will make both parties happy.
Advising on the way forward for export in the country, Nwokeoma said, “What is important is the ease of doing business. There is a need to collapse all those multiple inspection points manned by government agencies to one single point. We don’t need to know who owns anything. They should not be congested and the airport is supposed to be quiet. You drop your load and the agents take it up from there.
He observed that there are more people than cargo at the airport, calling on the government to decongest and streamline those found at the cargo terminals at the airport for effective operations.
“We want to be number one. We have the experience to be on top. We will take care of our customers’ needs, answer their questions and meet their needs. We are looking at making investments in packaging so as to assist exporters in getting it right in terms of standards. Ours is to take away their burdens and make sure their goods get to their destinations so that they can ride on our back”, he said.
Source: thewillnews