Category Archives: Aviation

SpiceXpress has announced the launch of its dedicated freighter service between Guwahati and Hong Kong. To start with, SpiceXpress, the dedicated air cargo arm of SpiceJet, will operate a weekly flight between Guwahati and Hong Kong. The company has deployed its Boeing 737 freighter on the route with an approximate carrying capacity of 18 tonnes. SpiceXpress sees a huge potential for exports from North East India and plans to add connecting weekly flights each from Silchar and Imphal to Hong Kong thereby taking the total tally to three flights per week between the regions. Besides fresh fruits and vegetables, SpiceXpress also plans to start export of exotic tea and kiwi wines from Arunachal Pradesh.

The government unveiled its much-awaited national air cargo policy at the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai. The policy, aimed to bring down the cost of air logistics, seeks to make India one of the top five air freight markets by 2025, besides creating air transport shipment hubs at all major airports over the next six years. It states that international cargo comprises 60 per cent of the total air cargo tonnes handled in the country, logging a growth of 15.6 per cent in the previous fiscal, while domestic cargo grew by over eight per cent, which reflects the skewed modal mix, in which roads account for over 60 per cent of cargo transportation as compared to the global average of around 30 per cent. The policy will also encourage code sharing/inter-line agreements between foreign and Indian carriers.

Ground handling services provider, Çelebi Aviation Holding, has won the ground handling license for Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) for 10 years through an international competitive bid process. This is the third win for Çelebi since last year, after winning the licenses for the Bengaluru and Kannur airports. The company plans to make an investment of $5-6 million at the airport. Murali Ramachandran, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Çelebi Aviation Holding Inc India, said, “The year gone by was a very important year for Çelebi as it marked the 10th anniversary of our India operations. Our partnership with RGIA is an important benchmark in our decade long journey as it sets another milestone towards our efforts of strengthening our presence and commitment in the India aviation market.”

SpiceFresh launched a dedicated freight service to transport fresh produce. To mark the occasion, two flights flew one tonne each of mandarin oranges from Guwahati International Airport (GAU), to Hong Kong (HKG) and Dubai (DBX), according to a Twitter statement from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Chandra Mohan Patowary, Industries and Commerce minister, said, “He hoped that the mandarins produced in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will brighten the future for these states in terms of exporting agri-horti produce from north-eastern states. Authorities from SpiceJet said that its flights will go to Hong Kong with 18 tonnes of freight between Guwahati and Kolkata daily, while both the Hong Kong and Dubai routes will be connected via the company’s international network.

With an aim to meet the significant increase in demand for cargo services to India, Saudia Cargo is offering 60 tonnes of cargo capacity per week in the bellies of its A330 aircraft flying to Calicut International Airport (CCJ), Kerala. Omar Hariri, Chief Executive Officer, Saudia Cargo, said, “The cargo business is doing its best to support the agricultural products and general cargo of Kerala region, exploring every way possible to increase exports from the neighbouring cities of Calicut.”

Government of Punjab has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services (AAICLAS) for operation and maintenance of the cargo terminal at Amritsar airport. As per the MoU, AAI will operate and manage the Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC) facility at the airport. The facility has been in operation since 2013. The move is designed to boost agricultural exports from Punjab and its neighbouring states with cargo flights expected to begin in the near future. The MoU was exchanged between Sibin C, Managing Director, Punjab Agro Industries and Keku Bomi Gazder, Chief Executive Officer, AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services.

After successful operation of passenger services, Kanpur Airport has got theoretical consent from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to make a cargo terminal at the airport. According to Jameel Khalique, Director, Kanpur Airport, “The goods can be sent up to 10 tonnes from this port. Loading-unloading of goods is expected to start from next financial year.” Under the UDAN scheme, the operation of the Kanpur-Delhi flight started in July this year. After this, the private airlines are providing direct services to Mumbai and Kolkata. A lot of business opportunities will be created after the start of the cargo service in view of tremendous potential in the field of trade and industry. In view of import-export data from Kanpur, it was decided to build a cargo terminal at the Kanpur Airport.

The fourth PHD Air Cargo Summit was held on November 20 in New Delhi. Here, industry experts deliberated on measures that would enable a continued double-digit growth for air cargo. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Government of India, declared that new Integrated Logistics and Air Cargo Policy is on anvil. He said, “With this new policy in place, the solutions to critical issues relating to agriculture and manufacturing output and their supplies, including exports, would be sufficiently explored, though the possibilities of making improvement in such an integrated policy still exist even in future.”

GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport (DIAL) has registered one million tonne cargo between November 2017 and October 2018, and also handled the highest-ever monthly air cargo tonnage of 100,091 MT in a single month (October 2018). This has placed IGIA’s cargo handling at the 28th position globally, making it the only Indian airport to be among the top 30. Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, Chief Executive Officer, DIAL, says, “Delhi airport has been recognised as India’s air cargo gateway for its handling capacity, efficient processes, and service standards.”

Jet Airways has entered global record books for the highest uplift of cargo by an Indian carrier in a single flight. The airline uplifted 45 tonnes of cargo on one of its flights on the Mumbai-London sector operated by a B777-300ER aircraft. The record is globally significant as only two other international carriers have previously operated a flight each with a cargo complement of over 40 tonnes on a Boeing777-300 aircraft. The cargo comprised of product mix including perishables (fruits and vegetables), engineering goods, garments, courier, leather goods and consolidation cargo. Pradeep Kumar, Senior Vice President, Jet Airways Cargo, said, “Air cargo is a vital part of the business at Jet Airways and this milestone is testament to our dedicated focus of growing cargo revenues, which has recorded a CAGR of more than 15 per cent in the past three years.”