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Panalpina wraps up acquisition of Air Connection in Kenya's perishables market

PANALPINA has completed the acquisition of Air Connection, a specialised forwarder of flowers and vegetables, after gaining approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya. The move follows the international freight forwarding and logistics company's acquisition of Airflo in 2016.

Aside from the Kenya market, the acquisition of Air Connection will enable Panalpina to develop its perishables presence in the neighbouring countries of Tanzania and Uganda, where the company sees a lot of potential.

The Panalpina perishables network offers customers in both origin and destination countries complete end-to-end solutions on a global scale. Panalpina is one of the few freight forwarders worldwide that can combine global coverage with experts dedicated to the perishables business.

"Being part of a major logistics company, which is focussed on becoming the preferred global supplier of perishables logistics, means we can now offer our customers end-to-end solutions and grow the perishables business out of Kenya," added owner and managing director of Air Connection, Manjit Brar.

Founded in 1993, Air Connection has operations close to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and in Mombasa. The company specialises in the export of flowers and vegetables from Kenya to multiple destinations, including the Netherlands and the UK. The perishables business of Air Connection will be merged with Panalpina Airflo.

"By combining Panalpina's global network with Air Connection's expertise in direct shipments, we can now offer our customers an unequalled service including direct shipments to over 150 destinations worldwide," explained managing director of Panalpina Airflo and Panalpina Kenya, Conrad Archer, in a company statement.

The combined business boosts Panalpina Airflo's existing cold storage capabilities to a total of 4,200 square metres dedicated to perishables and will handle 70,000 tonnes of perishables air freight per year. Construction has already begun to significantly increase the cold storage for perishables, which will be completed next year.