SpiceXpress has planned to use drones for quicker, faster and cost-effective delivery of medical, pharma and essential supplies and e-commerce products. The airline has got the approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct drone trial for essential goods delivery. SpiceXpress will be looking at last-mile delivery from the warehouse and the prime focus will be on delivering medical emergency parcels and essential supplies in remote areas. Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet says, “Testing of drone technology for last-mile connectivity and cost-effective cargo deliveries are a big leap in the air transportation of essential and non-essential supplies in India. We are extremely optimistic about using this exciting new mode of delivery for products like perishables and medicines which have a smaller shelf-life and need urgent deliveries in the remotest parts of India.”

In view of the challenges due to ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, the DG Systems of Customs has recently revealed a slew of further initiatives that the Department going to implement soon to facilitate trade through digitisation and Public Private Partnership (PPP). Sandeep Kumar, DG Systems, Government of India emphasised the need of achieving transparent process in customs clearance which will help to enhance security and revenue of the country. Kumar called on FFFAI Chairman, AV Vijaykumar, in the webinar, to work on blockchain technology for achieving the centralised KYC and also to achieve further uniformity in various processes involved in customs clearance of exim cargo.

“The associations have been playing a very critical role over the years. This period has really bought everybody together,” says, Yashpal Sharma, Hon. Secretary, Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) in one of the sessions of CargoTalk digital conclave. He adds, “All associations are currently working together to ensure that there is least amount of pain that comes in to the industry and keeping the movement of pharmaceuticals and the essentials supplies running. We can collaborate and make sure that we talk to the carriers, airports, ministries, regulators as one voice and bring up whatever is needed to fast track everything.”

Sharing the role of associations in such difficult times, Sunil Arora, President, The Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI), says in one of the sessions of CargoTalk second digital conclave, “Certainly, our role as association has become more significant. Associations are basically the interface between the trade and stakeholders. In these challenging times, the call of the hour is to collaborate and coordinate not only within the members of the association but with the other associations. We have been taking issues separately but now we are taking issues together. I wish this had happened more in good times but today all associations are on the same platform. We are discussing issues, problems, scenarios together.”

While sharing how customs brokers have played their role in Covid-19 crisis post the nationwide lockdown, A.V.Vijayakumar, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), says in one of the sessions of CargoTalk second digital conclave, “Road transporters are the strongest in the supply chain network of the last-mile connectivity. We are taking all the burden of importers and exporters for the outbound concern in the first mile and inbound concern in the last mile. Importers are dependent on us believing that the custom broker is responsible for the delivery of cargo at their warehouse, the minute the documents get handed over to the custom broker.” He informs that federation is doing regular follow ups and sharing representation with the Ministries to protect industry’s interest and at the same time improve the economic activities.

Taking few points from Prime Minister Announcement speech of the relief package, Tushar Jani, President, Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI), says in one of the sessions of CargoTalk second digital conclave, “It is the first time that supply chain has come in forefront and air cargo has proved to the world that this is the reliable arm of supply chain. All air cargo professionals have worked together in saving lot of lives.” He adds, “It is been proved that air cargo is more resilient and agile to come to the challenge within no time. In Covid-19, logistics professionals work like warriors, they are as important as doctors and nurses in the hospitals. They are the ones who are working on the ground to make sure to keep Covid-19 supply coming in.”

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB or BLR Airport) processed 1,425 Metric Tonnes (MT) of perishable cargo during April 2020. The countrywide lockdown and subsequent blockade of district borders by Karnataka had a significant impact on the movement of cargo. As a result, perishables saw a 49 per cent drop as compared to 2,770 MT processed during the same month last year. This drop was largely owing to restriction on transportation, shortage of farm workers and various other issues faced by farmers and shippers. Doha was the top destination, for perishables from Bengaluru, having received 834 MT, Dubai was second, with 146 MT and London was third at 110 MT. Ten airlines, including two Indian carriers, transported perishables to 28 international destinations. The perishables, which included vegetables and fruits, were transported from various parts of Karnataka.

Despite transport constraints and stringent regulations due to COVID-19, Mumbai Airport handles 12000 tonnes of export and 9000 tonnes of import particularly during this lockdown period. Talking in the second digital conclave of CargoTalk, Manoj Singh, Senior Vice President & Head – Cargo, Mumbai International Airport, says, “We, as a stakeholders, have really worked hard to keep the things moving. It is not possible to achieve these numbers without the combination of all the stakeholders working toward the same goal.” “On an average, Mumbai Airport witnesses eight to nine cargo flights per day with export flights operating mainly to the U.S., Germany, South Africa, France and the United Kingdom. With this, I can see that the freighter movement will possibly increase because there is paucity and challenge on the international passenger flights.

Calling these last two months hectic or challenging, from an airline perspective, would be an understatement, says, Sanjiv Gupta, CEO, SpiceXpress in the CargoTalk’s second digital conclave. He explains, “Our whole business which was based on carrying cargo in the belly of passenger aircraft got completely changed in a day and airlines stopped ferrying travellers from one place to the next. The pandemic has changed the whole scenario. At that time, domestic demand was low; hence, we started working on the international routes because we have seen demand for perishables to the Middle East, medicines and equipment from South East and China. We had a fleet of five dedicated freighters which crisscrossed the global skies carrying vital supplies including perishables, medicines, etc in this global war against COVID-19 pandemic.” “Now, we are witnessing that domestic demand is picking up,” he adds.

Stressing on the swiftness with which the entire machinery; whether it is government, airports, airlines, freight forwarders or truckers are moving to grasp the needs of the times, Vandana Aggarwal, Senior Economic Adviser, Ministry of Civil Aviation shares the cataclysmic impact of the pandemic in the second digital conclave of CargoTalk. She says, “This crisis has brought out the most humane side of aviation as well. It’s something that needs to be recognised. That humanity actually raised, on the commercial side, an important collaborative approach. Till now, everything in cargo business was used to be contract bound. But here we found that everybody looked to strengthen the weakest among them and to somehow bridge the gap in our supply chain in whatever way possible.”