Category Archives: Aviation

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has announced the first phase of ‘all-India roll out of faceless assessment’. With the objective of speedy clearance, transparency in decision making and ease of doing business, the board decided to implement the next generation reforms in the customs clearance process under ‘Turant’ customs. The Board has decided to begin faceless assessment in phases beginning with Customs stations which already have the experience of the pilot programs. Therefore, the first phase would begin from June 8, 2020 at Bengaluru and Chennai for items of imports primarily covered by Chapters 84 and 85 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The phased rollout plan envisages that Faceless Assessment shall be the norm pan India by December 31, 2020.

A US-based online payment platform for the cargo industry, PayCargo has entered into a partnership with IBS Software to broaden its digital payment network and enable carriers and ground handling companies to digitalise and simplify their payment systems with a substantial reduction in manual efforts. The move will be particularly helpful to PayCargo in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in view of the growing necessity for work-from-home culture and a soaring demand for reliable online freight payment platform solution. For IBS Software, a leading SaaS provider of core IT platforms for the air freight industry, the partnership is part of its ongoing initiatives to enable rapid adoption of digitalization for its customers, including many of the world’s largest airlines and cargo ground handlers.

Considering the challenges faced by trade due to pandemic, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the 24×7 customs clearance facility at all airports and seaports till June 2020 in order to facilitate faster clearance of consignments. “Chief Commissioners are therefore requested to make proper arrangement for the same and deploy sufficient number of officers on 24×7 basis at sea ports, air cargo stations, Inland Container Depot (ICDs), Container Freight Station (CFSs), to name a few falling in their jurisdiction,” says CBIC. In February, CBIC had said 24×7 Customs clearance facility will be available at all sea ports and airports till May 2020 to address any congestion or delay or surge on of the prevailing conditions due to outbreak of COVID-19.

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.”

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.”

Agility and Chapman Freeborn Air chartering have decided to unite their efforts in delivering CT scan and MRI machines to Malé, Maldives. The Ministry of Health in Maldives ordered approximately 41 tonnes of cargo consisting of MRI, CT scan machines and other health equipment for distribution to four different hospitals across the chain of islands and atolls that make up the nation. Agility airlifted the cargo into Dubai from various locations in the USA, China, France, Japan and India. The seamless movement of more than 287 pieces from five countries into Dubai was a challenge, especially when availability of flights and space became limited due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Agility worked with Chapman Freeborn and chartered a B747 freighter from Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai. Using B747 aircraft provided significant cost savings when compared with alternatives such as the Antonov An124 or the smaller Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft, which would have required three separate flights. Satish Lakkaraju, Chief Commercial Officer of Agility India, says, “From the countries of origin, to the consolidation point in Dubai and to the final destination in Male, we were pleased to have such talented people working on this global project. We thank our Agility Dubai team and our trusted global partner, Chapman Freeborn, for expertly handling all challenges that arose.” Vikas Chaturvedi, Chapman Freeborn’s Dubai Commercial Manager-Cargo, says, “Transporting this type of medical equipment on short notice requires careful planning and close attention to detail. Our strength is the global aviation professionals working with Agility and Chapman Freeborn.”