Question 1

What is ACMI wet lease brokerage and how does Hagens Logistics facilitate it in Africa?

Accepted Answer

ACMI stands for Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance. In an ACMI wet lease arrangement, an airline leases a fully crewed and maintained aircraft from an operator while providing its own traffic rights, fuel, ground handling, and route certificates. Hagens Logistics acts as an asset-light ACMI broker: we do not own aircraft, but instead source and place verified ACMI capacity — including B737F, B767F, and ATR72F freighters — for clients across South Africa, SADC, East Africa, and the wider African continent. Our Durban base gives us proximity to key African aviation markets. A typical ACMI placement response for short-term or AOG requirements is 4–8 hours from enquiry to operator shortlist.

Question 2

What is the difference between ACMI, wet lease, dry lease, and full charter for African cargo operations?

Accepted Answer

ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance) wet lease: the operator provides the aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance. The lessee provides fuel, ground handling, overflight permits, and operating certificates. Typical minimum duration is 1–12 months. Dry lease: the aircraft only is leased — the lessee provides crew, maintenance, and insurance. Minimum durations are typically longer and used for fleet expansion. Full charter (ad hoc): a single flight or series of flights commissioned for a specific cargo or passenger movement, with no ongoing commitment. Hagens Logistics brokers all three structures. For African freight operators requiring immediate lift on SADC routes, ACMI wet lease is the most common structure because it provides a complete operating unit without the lessee needing to recruit or maintain crew.

Question 3

How does Hagens Logistics handle GDP-compliant pharmaceutical air freight from South Africa?

Accepted Answer

Hagens Logistics manages pharmaceutical air freight under Good Distribution Practice (GDP) standards via its certified partner network. This covers temperature-controlled consolidations at 2–8°C (cold chain) and 15–25°C (controlled ambient) corridors. Our primary pharmaceutical air freight lanes are Durban (DUR) and Johannesburg (JNB) to Dubai (DXB), London Heathrow (LHR), and Amsterdam (AMS). Our partners hold IATA CEIV Pharma certification, ensuring end-to-end temperature monitoring, qualified personnel, standard operating procedures for deviation management, and compliant packaging. We coordinate export customs clearance via SARS-authorised channels and provide full chain-of-custody documentation. Clients receive a single point of contact covering booking, documentation, cold store handover, and final-mile temperature confirmation.

Question 4

Which SADC countries does Hagens Logistics serve and what freight modes are available?

Accepted Answer

Hagens Logistics serves 10+ SADC member states including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Madagascar. Available freight modes are: (1) Air freight — ACMI charter and ad hoc cargo charter from Johannesburg (JNB) as the primary SADC charter hub; (2) Road feeder services (RFS) — dedicated truck corridors from Harare, Lusaka, Gaborone, Maputo, Beira, and Blantyre to Durban and JNB gateway airports for air onward connection; (3) Sea freight FCL/LCL — container consolidation and full container loads from Durban Port and Mozambican ports to global destinations including Rotterdam, Shanghai, Dubai Jebel Ali, Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam. We also operate Hagens Consol, a per-kilo SME consolidation product for 50–500 kg air shipments, eliminating minimum weight penalties for smaller SADC exporters.

Question 5

Is Hagens Logistics a licensed freight forwarder or a broker — and what does asset-light mean for clients?

Accepted Answer

Hagens Logistics (Pty) Ltd is a registered freight broker and intermediary operating on an asset-light model — meaning the company owns no aircraft, vessels, or vehicles. This is a deliberate strategic choice. For clients, the asset-light model delivers three advantages: (1) Cost neutrality — we earn commission from the carrier or operator, not an inflated markup on owned assets, so quoted rates reflect genuine market rates; (2) Flexibility — without fleet commitments, we can source the most appropriate operator type and aircraft for each specific movement, rather than defaulting to owned capacity; (3) Risk insulation — fleet ownership risk, maintenance liability, and crew costs remain entirely with the operator. All regulated cargo (DGR, LAR, pharmaceutical) is executed through our certified strategic partner network whose certifications cover IATA DGR, IATA LAR, IATA CEIV Pharma, and FIATA. Hagens Logistics is SARS-registered and BEE-certified in South Africa.

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