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Pakistani mango exporters say airlines levy high rates yet spoil fruit

FOREIGN airlines are charging exorbitant freight rates to transport Pakistan's mangoes to Europe but are also to blame for the fruit arriving rotten at their destinations, according to All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) chief Ahmed Waheed.

Mr Waheed said that foreign airlines are charging mango exporters in Pakistan on average PKR175 (US$1.66) per kilogramme to transport mango to Manchester from Karachi and PKR175 per kilogramme to London. In comparison, the same airlines charge only PKR85 to transport one kilogramme of mango to Manchester from Bombay and PKR120 per kilogramme to London from the Indian city.

"There is no huge difference between the destinations [Manchester and London] from Karachi and Bombay. However, there is a huge different in freight charges," he said, reported the Karachi Express Tribune.

"This is open discrimination against Pakistan. India is our only one regional competitor," said Mr Ahmed. The high transportation rate charged by airlines only applies to mango, as otherwise the rate is PKR90 per kilogramme for other fruits and vegetables from Pakistan, the official added.

Despite the high delivery rates, airlines are mishandling transport of export orders, said Mr Waheed.

He claimed that many times the airlines take longer to transport the fruit which causes the mango to rot and results in overseas buyers rejecting the orders. Consequently, the export delivery orders are sent back to Pakistan at additional freight cost on the return flight, he said.

The PFVA patron-in-chief told of an exporter dispatching 3,000 tons of mangoes to a European country at a freight cost of PKR1 million. However, the international buyer rejected the shipment. The airline charged another PKR0.8 million for the return. Authorities at Karachi airport declared the returned shipment as non-consumable and charged the trader another PKR300,000 for disposal.

Mr Waheed said PFVA along with Air Cargo Agents Association of Pakistan (ACAAP) have approached the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to probe and take action against the airlines, who cannot be charged for the losses, as they do not accept the liability.