1st perishable shipment by bonded trucking sails from Coimbatore airport

Coimbatore airport’s cargo department sent an export shipment of 2.5 tonnes of perishable cargo by bonded trucking to Kochi for the first time on September 12. N. Mahalingam, Director, Coimbatore Airport, flagged off the bonded truck with the perishable cargo to Kochi. “We had to send this shipment of perishables, including vegetables like onions and drumsticks, booked to Jeddah by bonded trucking as we have only passenger airlines flying out internationally,” said S. Subramanian, Senior Manager (Air Cargo).
“Perishables, including vegetables, fruits and flowers, constitute 50 per cent of Coimbatore airport’s export volume, which is around 350 tonnes a year. There are space constraints because all international flight flying out of the city are relatively smaller and cargo space is available only after passengers are allocated their luggage space. On the other hand, Kochi has wide-bodied aircraft like the Boeing 747, which despite being a passenger flight can accommodate such a sizeable shipment,” he said.