Category Archives: Aviation

With SpiceJet decision to launch air freight services along Chennai–Vizag– Kolkata, Visakhapatnam is set to get its first exclusive cargo flight. The flight which is capable of carrying 20 tonne of air cargo is expected to be launched in mid-February and operate on a daily basis.  The Andhra Pradesh Air Travelers Association (APATA) has been pursuing the introduction of air cargo flight from Vizag for quite some time. The association has also informed that Air India has agreed to cut the cargo rates from Visakhapatnam, as the cargo rates of Air India in Visakhapatnam are higher as compared to those in Hyderabad.

Surat Airport has opened the state-of-the-art domestic cargo terminal (DCT) on January 29, 2020. The terminal has an area of approx. 2,800 sqm out of which 1,400 sqm is the covered space capable of handling 50,000 metric tonne annually. Operated by AAI Cargo Allied and Logistics Services (AAICLAS), the terminal targets to increase cargo movement from 300 metric tonnes per month to more than 1000 metric tonne per month. Keku Gazder, CEO, AAICLAS, comments, “This terminal will cater to the ever-increasing air cargo demand of the south Gujarat region. We are looking at doubling the cargo transport in the next couple of months.”  

SpiceJet has started PO mail delivery service in Jharsuguda, one of the regional airports. Earlier these mails use to come via Bhubaneshwar through flight and then by train which usually takes 2 days to reach Jharsuguda. The new air service enables same day delivery from Delhi. 33 mails and two ordinary letter bags arrived from Delhi through SpiceJet airline at VSS airport, Jharsuguda. Six neighbouring districts; Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Deogarh, Bhawanipatna, including Jharsuguda will be directly benefited and mails would reach same day if booked by Delhi by 10 am. This will help in bringing this region closer to rest of the country.

N Sivasailam, Special Secretary – Logistics, Department of Commerce, Government of India has kindly consented to grace the India Cargo Awards 2019. India Cargo Awards 2019 are scheduled to be held on January 27, 2020 from 7 pm to 10 pm at the Crowne Plaza Greater Noida. Sivasailam is an officer of the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service allotted to Karnataka Cadre. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, University of Delhi. He did his Master’s in Business Administration at the Faculty Management Studies, University of Delhi, and Master’s in Social Policy & Planning from the London School of Economics and Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Law (IPRL) from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Prior to this assignment, he served as an Additional Chief Secretary in the Department of Public Enterprises, Government of Karnataka. He has served in the Departments of Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, Forest, Ecology & Environment Departments of the Government of Karnataka as Principal Secretary.

GMR Hyderabad Aerotropolis (GHAL) has formed a joint venture with ESR Hyderabad 1 (ESR) to develop a 66-acre logistics and industrial park at the Hyderabad airport city. Both the companies, for the aforesaid transaction, have entered into definitive agreements with an equity interest of 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively in the SPV viz., GMR Logistics Park. The total project outlay would be around Rs550 crore. “This collaboration would set new standards for the warehousing and industrial real estate sector. It would also benefit the burgeoning cargo industry in the region,” said Aman Kapoor, CEO – Airport Land Development, GMR Group.

SF Airlines has launched its second freighter service between Shenzhen and New Delhi. Airlines’ B747-400F, the new route will see two flights per week, providing a weekly round-trip capacity of 400 tonne. The company has added a new flight between Shenzhen and New Delhi in addition to its Shenzhen–Chennai service launched earlier in 2019. ““As the capital of India, New Delhi is an important location for Chinese companies to invest, develop and expand their business in the country,” said, Sam Sun, Head, SF Express India, in adding, “To leverage these advantages, SF Express has launched an all-new direct air freight route to New Delhi to fully penetrate the Indian market and provide comprehensive cross-border logistics coverage.”

Delhi International Airport (DIAL) has announced that it has been chosen as the exclusive cargo transshipment centre in India by China. As per this significant development, Chinese cargo to the central Asian countries is now being routed through Delhi airport’s Transshipment Excellence Centre (TEC). Expressing happiness over the development, Videh Kumar Jaipuria, CEO, DIAL, said, “Delhi has emerged as a cargo hub for businesses in North India and neighbouring countries.” An Air Asia X (D7) freighter, carrying garment and accessories, brought the consignment from Beijing to Delhi for onward delivery to Ukraine in the last week of 2019. This was the first instance of international-to-international movement of China’s cargo via Delhi Airport. “This new movement of international transhipment cargo connecting China to Ukraine via Delhi Airport will give a significant impetus to the air cargo and regional logistics sectors,” said Jaipuria.

The DHL Global Trade Barometer predicts mildly positive growth for Indian trade with the country’s index rising five points to 54. According to data from the DHL Global Trade Barometer released by DHL, the positive outlook is driven primarily by an uptake in ocean imports of basic and industrial raw materials and chemicals and products, coupled with a gradual revival in air exports of consumer fashion goods. In total, ocean trade grew by 10 points, maintaining India’s positive outlook even as air trade forecasts experience relative weakness. The strong growth in ocean import and export will sustain India’s trade growth over three months in 2020. “India has the strongest trade forecast this quarter and the highest index value of all countries in the latest Global Trade Barometer survey, followed closely by the United Kingdom and Japan,” said Niki Frank, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding India. He adds, “This highlights the underlying potential of India’s economy, which will benefit from the government’s plan to invest US$ 1.39 trillion (€ 1.26 trillion) in infrastructure projects. The country’s commitment to establishing itself as a strategic maritime hub with initiatives and investments in coastal infrastructure appear to be supporting the index’s positive ocean trade outlook and will likely also contribute positively to longer-term trade growth.”

Increasing demand for warehousing from both domestic and international players is driving demand for efficient and international practices of storing and moving goods. LEAP India expects the demand for pallets on lease to go up to four million during the year 2020-21 from three million deployed currently. The company is expanding its client base to 550 spread across FMCG, beverages, auto, food, e-Commerce and large logistic players. Sunu Mathew, Managing Director, LEAP India comments, “We see enough opportunity in both pallets and Foldable Large Containers (FLCs). We are all geared up to tap this huge opportunity as we are well positioned to expand our pallets base. The company has good number of veterans from logistics and other sectors managing various functions professionally.”

KWE India has launched Slip Sheet Handling for airfreight shipments ex-Bengaluru to address material handling issues of cargo and enhancing ULD optimisation. The idea is to transform air transport and storage challenges by offering an economical material handling solution for cargo handling and storage applications. Also, when combined with a push-pull attachment and buffers, PVC or cardboard slip sheets allow customers to ship, receive and warehouse unit loads on inexpensive slip-sheets rather than pallets. According to Karthi Baskar, Deputy Managing Director, KWE India, “Slip sheet handling is our innovative offering for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. In this regard, our first trial shipment ex Bengaluru was moved on December 12, 2019 for our customer and was supported by Air India SATS CoolPort facility and Emirates Airlines to make it successful.