Excellence in air cargo awarded at ACA 2019 in Johannesburg

Feb 21, 2019: The STAT Times International Awards for Excellence in Air Cargo were given away at a glittering evening of celebration at the Barnyard Theatre Rivonia in Johannesburg during the fourth edition of Air Cargo Africa conference and exhibition that was held between February 19 and 21 at the Emperor's Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa. Air Cargo Africa is organized by Messe Muenchen in partnership with STAT Media Group.

Tleli Makhetha, former head of cargo at South African Airways, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was among the many others who were recognized for their excellent achievement and performance in the air freight industry in the last two years.

He joined South African Airways in 2000 as an Executive Manager responsible for Cargo Networks and Alliances as well as Aero-political Affairs. In 2001 he was promoted to Executive Vice President of SAA responsible for Cargo. During this period he was responsible for SAA's Africa joint venture with Lufthansa Cargo, sales alliance with Swiss Air Cargo as well as other successful relationships with Emirates Cargo, Cargolux, Qantas and Lan Cargo among others. He returned to SAA in 2010 to again head SAA cargo as general manager after an absence of more than six years. He retired in 2018.

Other key award winners include Qatar Airways Cargo who was declared the Global Cargo Airline of the Year. Lufthansa Cargo was the close second in the same category. Qatar Airways Cargo picked three awards in total that also included Global Air Cargo Brand of the Year (highly acclaimed) and International Cargo Airline of the Year in Africa (highly acclaimed) in which Saudia Cargo was the winner. Saudia was also the winner in the International Air Cargo Marketer of the Year category which saw Turkish Cargo coming in as the highly acclaimed winner. Turkish Cargo was the winner in the Global Air Cargo Brand of the Year.

THE COMPLETE LIST OF AWARDS

International Freight Forwarder of the year in Africa
Kuehne Nagel (Highly Acclaimed)
DHL Global Forwarding (Winner)

International Ground Handler of the Year in Africa
Worldwide Flight Services (Highly Acclaimed)
Swissport Cargo Services (Winner)

International IT Systems Provider of the Year in Africa
CHAMP Cargo Systems (Highly Acclaimed)
IBS Software Services (Winner)

International Air Charter Provider of the Year Africa
Chapman Freeborn (Highly Acclaimed)
Air Charter Service (Winner)

International General Sales Agent of the Year Africa
ECS Group (Highly Acclaimed)
ATC Aviation (Winner)

African Airport of the Year
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (Highly Acclaimed)
O R Tambo International Airport (Winner)

International Airport of the Year
Brussels Airport (Highly Acclaimed)
Liege Airport (Winner)

African All Cargo Airline of the Year
Astral Aviation (Highly Acclaimed)
DHL Aviation (Winner)

African Cargo Airline of the Year
South African Airways Cargo (Highly Acclaimed)
Ethiopian Airlines Cargo (Winner)

International All Cargo Airline of the Year in Africa
Magma Aviation (Highly Acclaimed)
Cargolux (Winner)

Air Cargo Brand of the Year in Africa
Kenya Airways Cargo (Highly Acclaimed)
Ethiopian Airlines Cargo (Winner)

International Cargo Airline of the Year in Africa
Qatar Airways Cargo (Highly Acclaimed)
Saudia Cargo (Winner)

International Air Cargo Marketer of the Year
Turkish Cargo (Highly Acclaimed)
Saudia Cargo (Winner)

Global Air Cargo Brand of the Year
Qatar Airways Cargo (Highly Acclaimed)
Turkish Cargo (Winner)

Global Cargo Airline of the Year
Lufthansa Cargo (Highly Acclaimed)
Qatar Airways Cargo (Winner)

STAT Times Lifetime Achievement Award
Tleli Makhetha