Air Contractors – Safair

With the unfortunate situation of the BP oil spill occuring in the Gulf of Mexico, it is great to see that our Hercules Aircraft along with its crew, in conjunction with our client ‘Air Contractors Ltd’ are doing their utmost to help in relieving the situation. EI-JIV will be stationed at the Gulf of Mexico until August. Hopefully by then, the situation will have alleviated enough so that the residents of this area may return to a normal way of living. As can be seen from the attached article that was posted in “The Irish Sun” on the 11th June 2010, our aircraft is being put to good use.

Brazilian team captain, Luciano, with our very own Capt Zeuner

With the FIFA 2010 World Cup count down coming closer to an end, and with the whole world keeping a close eye on South Africa over the next 7 weeks, it was with great pleasure and excitement that Safair was given the opportunity to fly the Brazilian National football team on two charter flights to both Harare and Dar-Es Saalam, so that the team could continue their preparations by playing a couple of warm up games against Zimbabwe and Tanzania respectively.

Arriving by coach and under heavy security to Lanseria Airport on the 1^st June en-route to Harare, the team looked every bit like the superstar athletes that were expected. After quickly going through security and immigration, the team was ushered on to the aircraft whereby they were greeted by the whole crew wearing Brazilian shirts. Apparently the team was so happy about this that management provided the entire crew with VIP tickets for the game the following afternoon.  After the usual pre-flight checks, the crew, squad and aircraft were airborne and Harare bound.

This flight was certainly a once in a life time opportunity for the majority of the crew and they certainly did not waste it. With Anabella Ribeiro coordinating proceedings and having the ability to speak fluent Portuguese, the crew received the chance to mingle and chat to players such as ‘Kaka’, ‘Julio Cesar’,’Lucio’ and many more.

With a focus and dedication that would be expected from any team of Brazils caliber, the squad was relaxed and subdued as they prepared for their match the following afternoon. It was no surprise then when the Brazilian team picked apart a gutsy but ultimately weaker Zimbabwean team and the score ran out 3-1 to the travelling team. By all accounts the atmosphere was electric in the stadium where for many Zimbabweans this would be the highlight of a World Cup that has yet to begin. And for the crew, their hike through the jungles of Harare to find their seats in the VIP section will not be something they would forget any time soon.

 So after the teams brief stop over in Harare, it was back on to the Boeing 737-300 aircraft for the short return flight back to Johannesburg, and to put it mildly, the return flight was a lot more entertaining than the flight up. Having put in a performance to excite the crowds at the match, it was now time for the team to relax in the only way possible for Brazilians, through samba dancing! Players danced in their own unique way to the rhythm of samba music whilst the cabin crew tried to hold in their excitement of what was happening around them. Even the most fanatical of football fans would have given a limb to see this spectacle.

And alas the team arrived back at Lanseria airport where they were met by throngs of heavily guarded security and journalists, doing there upmost to get the best photograph possible for the next day’s newspapers. All in all the flights both ways went very well, with both the Safair crew and Brazilian squad extremely happy with how it all panned out. In actual fact, the Brazilian team was so happy that they requested that the same flight crew (captained by Jochen Zeuner) fly the squad to Dar Es Saalam where they disposed of Tanzania in a 5-1 beating that was worthy of their hotly tipped status of being the next FIFA World Cup Champions.

All in all, it was a fantastic week for the whole of Safair and in particular for the crew who got to fly with the squad. We can only now wish Brazil the best of luck over the coming weeks as they seek World Cup glory, but being South Africans we are secretly hoping that our own Bafana Bafana can come away with the solid gold trophy come the 11^th July.

The cargo facility workers at the new King Shaka International Airport had their hands full on Wednesday after intense hours of loading five black rhinos into a plane en route to Zambia.

The four females and a male were brought from the Umfolozi Game Lodge and IThala Game Reserve. The bulky animals were first sedated due to their sensitive nature before being flown by the Safair Hercules C-130 flight to the Zambian North Luangwa National Park.

The cargo terminal at the Dube Trade Port has become the first in Africa to have just one handler for international cargo, Worldwide Flight Services and its large scale environment is animal friendly.

The re-introduction of the black rhino in Zambia was the effort of the Trade Port and the Worldwide Flight Services after the Zambian rhino became extinct due to poaching.

General Manager of the Worldwide Flight Services Nico Le Roux said the cargo handler had transported small animals such as birds before but insisted it was the first time they had to move animals weighing over a ton.

“The rhinos, which can weigh up to two tons each, are the biggest animals to date to be transported out of the new King Shaka’s International cargo facility.”

Le Roux said external cranes had to be used to reduce the hard labour for the cargo handlers.

To keep up with the vigorous campaign for environmental conservation, Dube Trade Port and Worldwide Flight Services are planning to build an extravagant Border Inspection Post for live animals at cargo terminals.

The Dube Port boasts some of the fine state of the art facilities such as the IT platform created for world class information communication technology and trade, and the Agrizone which will be about 80 hectares of net developed land that will include the cultivating of high value agricultural production and exports.

Safair’s dedication to excellence has been fostered by our years of expertise and experience in providing leasing, maintenance, special operations, chartering and training services.

All of our staff, from pilots and crew to leasing professionals and maintenance technicians, understand the importance of ensuring that our passion for excellence is built in to everything we do on behalf of our customers.

Service and Comfort

We ensure that all of our services are closely aligned by promoting collaboration and cross-training within Safair at every appropriate opportunity. This culture enables us to apply our complete skillset to solving each and every challenge, and means that our customers have easy access to the full depth and breadth of our resources. At Safair we possess the ability to operate in some of the toughest environments but we can also offer best in class passenger services, conveying people from point to point in the lap of luxury.