Afrijet Business Service is an airline registered in the Republic of Gabon, trading as FLYGABON. Founded in Libreville in 2004 and based at Léon-Mba International Airport, it flies a fleet built on new-generation turboprop regional aircraft and ranks among the largest regional carriers in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited builds air corridors through African and Middle East hubs for Chinese shippers into this Central African market, moving industrial equipment, electromechanical goods, consumer products and project materials to Libreville and the inland points around it.
Afrijet Business Service was founded in Libreville, Gabon in 2004, starting in the Central African market with charter and business flying. It began building a scheduled regional network in October 2016, became one of the largest airlines in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community in 2019, and passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit in February 2020, with later renewals in the years that followed. The FLYGABON brand is the product of a strategic partnership between the Republic of Gabon and the airline's shareholders, with the state holding the majority stake in the joint venture.
The fleet is built on five ATR 72-600 turboprop regional aircraft, with the first ATR 42-600 received in 2025 and a second due to follow, described as one of the youngest regional fleets in Africa. The network covers seventeen scheduled destinations: Libreville, Port-Gentil and Franceville, plus Yaoundé, Douala, Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Malabo, Bata, São Tomé, Príncipe, Cotonou, Bangui, Port Harcourt and Johannesburg. For cargo from China the role is to take industrial and consumer goods flown to an African or Middle Eastern hub on the mainline, then distribute them through the carrier's regional turboprop belly space to Libreville and inland points.
Gabon sits on the equator in West Africa facing the Atlantic, with a rainforest-covered interior and an economy driven by mining, timber and oil. Imports are mainly machinery, petrochemical parts, building materials, consumer goods and telecom equipment. Chinese electromechanical and light industrial products hold a steady share of the Gabonese market, and Goodhope Freight therefore includes Gabon in its Central Africa product, using established routings via Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Johannesburg.
Gabon's population is concentrated in the two gateway cities of Libreville and Port-Gentil, while inland points such as Franceville sit in dense rainforest, so supplies from abroad depend heavily on aircraft belly space in addition to sea freight. Port-Gentil is the centre of the oil industry, where demand for airfreight of spares, consumables and safety equipment for rigs and refineries is steady all year; Franceville sits near manganese mining areas, with mining equipment and camp supplies shipped on a regular cycle. Libreville also handles national import distribution: whatever the final destination, coastal or inland, cargo is normally cleared there first and moved on by road or regional flight.
Gabon's own manufacturing base is limited, so consumer goods, building materials, electrical equipment and telecom devices are almost entirely imported, with a high share of electromechanical and light industrial products sourced from China. Exports are dominated by crude oil, manganese ore and logs, and this two-way trade gives forwarders a steady base of cargo in both directions. Chinese orders for Gabon are usually a mix of project replenishment and routine wholesaler restocking, ranging from a few cartons of spares to several tonnes of equipment, which is exactly where palletised belly space and project airfreight fit.
Departing China · schematic of the network into the Central African rainforest interior
Goodhope Freight offers three core products into Gabon. Belly booking for urgent shipments suits samples, spares and business documents up to a few hundred kilograms where time matters: cargo is handed over for screening at Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong or Shanghai, flies in the belly of a widebody to an African or Middle East hub, is transferred by the handling agent of the partner airline and connects to an Afrijet regional flight into Libreville. Consolidated palletised airfreight suits orders of three to six cubic metres per shipment, collected at a domestic warehouse, palletised together and dispatched on a weekly schedule at a lower unit cost than loose urgent cargo. Special airfreight for project equipment covers over-weight, over-length or magnetic industrial cargo, with aircraft type and loading plan assessed case by case.
For standard shipments, handover in China to delivery in Libreville takes about ten to sixteen days: roughly one day of mainline flying, one to three days on the ground at the hub, one to three hours on the regional leg, and the remainder for clearance, inspection and local delivery. Space tightens in the Gabon rainy season and during oil and gas turnaround seasons, so booking two to three weeks ahead is advisable. No consolidated public information is available on the carrier's documentation cut-off and ground handling windows at its Libreville freight terminal, so operations confirm them shipment by shipment before booking.
For urgent repair parts, the team keeps an expedited option: cargo is given priority handover and screening in China, moves through the express transfer channel at the hub and connects to the next regional belly departure, cutting the total to seven to ten days. Rates are higher than the standard routing, but the option meets the hard deadline of oilfield and mine repair windows. Bulk project cargo is dispatched in weekly batches instead, balancing cost against stock levels on site. Operations explain the difference in transit time and rate at the booking stage so the shipper can choose against the project schedule.
Oil drilling and production parts, generator sets, pumps, compressors, valves and piping, dispatched in batches to match the oil and gas project cycle.
Steel accessories, hardware tools, small construction machinery and building consumables, suited to consolidated pallets distributed through Libreville.
Base station parts, antennas, energy storage units and small digital devices; items containing batteries are declared through the dangerous goods process.
Garments, footwear, bags, plastic housewares and small appliances, shipped as general cargo on pallets to Libreville wholesalers.
Advice on importing Gabonese logs, processed timber and minerals into China, with return space and qualification arrangements.
Over-length pipe, over-weight equipment, magnetic goods and pharmaceutical cold chain, with aircraft type and packing reviewed seven to ten working days ahead.
| Cargo type | Typical packing | Booking lead time | Transit considerations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machinery and petrochemical parts | Wooden crate / steel frame | Five to seven working days | Aircraft type confirmation for heavy pieces |
| Telecoms with batteries | Explosion-proof container | Five to seven working days | Dangerous goods declaration |
| Consumer goods | Carton plus pallet | Three to five working days | Inspection at the transit hub |
| Pharma cold-chain cargo | Insulated box with gel packs | Seven working days or more | Temperature control across the connection |
Gabon sits on the equator in West Africa facing the Atlantic, far from the main Asian trunk routes, so cargo to and from China has long depended on hubs in East Africa, Southern Africa and the Middle East. Goodhope Freight keeps Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Johannesburg as selectable routings at the same time, letting shippers switch according to the departure gateway, available space and clearance speed. Afrijet flies new-generation ATR regional aircraft to inland Central African points with a stable schedule and IOSA-audited standards, so the operations team sizes pallets and piece weights to what the regional belly can take, reducing re-palletising at the hub.
Compared with the large coastal ports of West Africa, Gabon traffic combines project cargo and wholesale restocking. Oil and mining project materials tend to be bulky with hard deadlines, while wholesale restocking is small-lot and frequent. The team therefore splits the product into project airfreight and a consolidated pallet express: project cargo has aircraft type and loading assessed separately and space booked to the construction window, while wholesale cargo is palletised on a fixed weekly schedule so customers can plan production against their sales cycle. That split is built around the characteristics of regional turboprop belly capacity and keeps shippers from waiting on spot capacity.
For Gabonese import documentation, operations prepares pro forma invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and import licence samples in advance and helps the shipper pre-check documents before handover, cutting amendments and storage costs on arrival. Mining and oil and gas projects in Gabon are highly time-sensitive on engineering materials, so the team keeps an emergency channel and, when a hub is congested, prioritizes the earliest connection. No public information confirms whether the carrier holds a formal interline agreement with Chinese forwarders; transit connections are made through the hub carriers' cargo networks and ground agents.
Addis Ababa Bole Airport has dense connections to China, with several widebody frequencies a week nonstop from Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen, so mainline space is plentiful. Cargo is distributed through the African regional network to West Africa and then connects to a regional flight into Libreville, which suits large, cost-sensitive project replenishment.
Transit and customs transfer at the Nairobi hub follows clear procedures and suits shipments whose documents need a second check. Johannesburg serves Southern Africa and suits cargo already in South Africa or tied to mining projects that needs an air-to-air connection. Whether a given flight has space is compared in real time by the operations team on the day of booking.
The three corridors differ on mainline space, transfer efficiency and clearance speed on arrival. Addis Ababa wins on frequency and stable cost for routine bulk replenishment; Nairobi wins on orderly customs transfer for shipments with more complex documents; Johannesburg wins on close links to the Southern African mining network for project equipment. The team does not tie a customer to one corridor, but combines them according to the cargo and the space available, switching between batches of the same shipment when needed to hold the overall balance of time and cost. That redundancy also reduces the risk of delay from a sudden restriction or strike at a single hub.
The shipper provides commodity, pieces, weight, dimensions, HS code and destination; operations checks whether the goods are restricted or dangerous and quotes a rate and transit time range.
Once the routing is confirmed, space is held and the shipper submits the booking note and export documents before the cut-off, with a warehouse slot reserved.
Cargo reaches the warehouse for X-ray screening, weighing and measuring, marking and palletising, then is built into air containers for the mainline flight.
The mainline flight reaches an African or Middle East hub, the ground agent handles the transfer and the cargo moves to an Afrijet regional belly departure for Libreville.
Cargo arrives at the Léon-Mba airport freight terminal, where Gabonese import clearance is handled against the air waybill and documents, with inspection and duty payment.
After release, delivery is arranged in Libreville and toward Port-Gentil and Franceville, with signed proof of delivery returned to the shipper.
Cargo bound for the Central African interior has to survive stacking in a widebody belly on the mainline and manual handling in a small regional belly. Cartons are always palletised, wrapped in stretch film with corner boards; wooden cases use fumigation-free plywood or fumigated solid timber to avoid quarantine rejection at destination. Over-weight pieces have the aircraft type confirmed before palletising, and where needed switch to a widebody into the hub with road transfer onward. Lithium batteries, magnetic goods, powders and liquids are packed and classified under the ICAO dangerous goods rules with declarations attached, and temperature-controlled cargo travels in insulated boxes marked with its temperature range.
Inland roads in Gabon turn muddy in the rainy season, and ground transfer toward Port-Gentil and Franceville is often done by off-road vehicles, so outer packaging must withstand repeated handling and hot, humid conditions. Metal parts are treated against rust and moisture-sensitive cargo gets an inner moisture barrier bag. For high-value electronics, shippers should insure the cargo themselves; operations can help issue the waybill and invoice documents.
Given the hot, humid equatorial climate, storage and transport need particular care against damp and mould. Cartons are sealed before handover in China, pallets sit on slip sheets to keep them off the floor, and cargo connecting from sea freight gets an extra moisture barrier film. The team advises on liners and desiccant according to the material so electromechanical and hardware items do not warp, rust, mould or absorb moisture in equatorial conditions. For wholesalers stocking seasonally, the team also suggests a balance between volume and turnover to shorten storage time in the heat.
Splitting project cargo into batches is common on the Gabon lane. Oil and mining projects often break a single machine into several packages and ship them in sequence to match site construction, so a single arrival does not tie up warehouse space and lifting equipment. The team keeps a batch ledger for project shippers recording package number, gross weight, volume and arrival date for each batch, aligned with the installation schedule on site. After arrival in Libreville the local agent checks each package against the list, moves it by road to the project site and signs over on handover. For destinations with strict unloading windows, such as the Port-Gentil oil base, the team confirms lifting and truck slots with the port agent in advance so cargo can move to road haulage as soon as it arrives and heavy vehicles do not queue at the airport terminal. For long-running projects the team also compiles dispatch, arrival and handover data by month into a simple logistics ledger for stock and cost reconciliation.
Operating hours at the Libreville Léon-Mba freight terminal follow the flight schedule, and cargo must be processed promptly once the arrival notice is issued; free storage tightens in the rainy season and around public holidays. Before the regional flight departs, the team sends the arrival pre-alert, waybill copy and clearance documents to the Libreville agent so the consignee can pre-enter the declaration, allowing collection as soon as the cargo is released. For first-time Gabonese consignees, the team also explains local duty payment and consignee authorization to avoid release delays caused by a missing power of attorney.
Regional schedules in Central Africa are affected by the rainy season and runway conditions, and inland points beyond Libreville occasionally slip. The team builds one to two days of buffer space into each booking and, when a regional flight slips, immediately secures the next belly departure at the hub so cargo does not sit at the transit point. Temperature-controlled and perishable cargo gets the earliest available connection to cut ground waiting time. For critical spares on oil, gas and mining projects, the team runs a separate emergency channel that prioritizes space during repair windows.
If customs selects the shipment, documents are deficient or the destination imposes a sudden restriction, operations notifies the shipper immediately, helps amend the documents and prepares spare packaging and re-palletising at the warehouse. Waybill status is reported leg by leg through the operations group after booking, with updates at mainline departure, transit arrival, regional departure and arrival for collection. No public information is available on the carrier's specific cargo discrepancy claim rules and claim deadlines at Libreville; claims follow the carrying airline's conditions and the destination agent's arrangements at the time.
Gabonese import declarations rest on the pro forma invoice and packing list, and the value, commodity and piece count must match the cargo on arrival, with consignee details matching the registered local importer. For machinery, telecoms and pharmaceuticals, the importer must obtain the relevant authority's licence before arrival; operations flags destination market access requirements at the handover stage in China so cargo is not held or returned for missing permits.
A certificate of origin helps the consignee obtain the applicable tariff treatment and should be prepared with the other documents before dispatch. The consignee's telephone number and address on the waybill must be complete and accurate, because the Libreville terminal has to notify collection on arrival and missing contact details lead to long storage and warehouse charges. After booking is confirmed, the Goodhope Freight operations team gives the shipper a document checklist and completed samples and runs a pre-check before handover, settling common problems such as figures in words and digits, currency and piece, weight and dimension mismatches in China.
Normally one mainline connection and one regional connection: cargo flies from China to an African or Middle East hub, then switches to a regional aircraft for Libreville Léon-Mba Airport, all on one through air waybill, so the shipper does not collect the goods at the transit point.
From its Libreville hub the airline serves seventeen scheduled destinations in Gabon and toward Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Benin, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and South Africa; the current schedule governs actual frequencies.
Yes, under the dangerous goods process, with battery type, power rating and a transport conditions test report, compliant explosion-proof packaging and extra booking lead time; undeclared battery cargo can be rejected at screening.
Normally a pro forma invoice, packing list, air waybill, certificate of origin and the import licence for the commodity. Operations supplies templates before handover and helps pre-check to reduce amendments on arrival.
Project cargo is palletised and shipped in batches, palletised and declared together in China, then moved by the local agent overland to the site from Libreville, with batches released to the construction schedule and buffer space held.
Yes. The whole shipment is booked and cleared toward Libreville, then the local agent distributes toward Port-Gentil and Franceville, with a single master air waybill issued in China so declarations are not repeated.
Submit the shipping plan two to three weeks before dispatch so the operations team can hold space on the weekly schedule and fix the rate; before peak season, shippers are advised to complete the document pre-check early to reduce amendments on arrival.
This airline profile was produced by Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited to describe air freight arrangements from China to Gabon and the Central African interior. Fleet, route and certification details for Afrijet Business Service / FLYGABON are compiled from public sources, and space and rates are subject to confirmation at booking.
Business contact: Goodhope Logistics (China) Limited (Goodhope Freight), website goodhopefreight.com. For bookings from China, contact the operations team for live rates and space on the Gabon lane.
Afrijet, FLYGABON, J7, ABS and related marks are trademarks or exclusive codes of their respective owners; The material describes a route direction only and implies no affiliation with or endorsement by the airline. Other company, product and service names belong to their respective owners. Details and arrangements are subject to change without notice.