As part of the multimodal cargo transportation project, SpiceJet has operated its first flight, carrying 48 tonnes of cargo including garments from Dhaka to Spain for a global fashion brand, while availing an inter-connect of two modes of transport through road and air. In this multimodal transportation of the cargo, the consignment was shipped first from Dhaka through Petrapole to Kolkata airport via road and then to New Delhi on a SpiceXpress freighter. From New Delhi, a SpiceXpress Airbus A340 cargo plane was then transported the consignment to Spain. Petrapole is the Indian side of Petrapole-Benapole border checkpoint between India and Benapole of Bangladesh. The initiative will provide an impetus to the Indian government’s vision of making India a transhipment hub. Multimodal transport is a combination of different means of transport to facilitate the movement of cargo, making it faster and more efficient whereby more than one transport mode is involved to ferry the goods to their final destination which may include trucks, trains, ships and airplanes.
The initiative was undertaken in association with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India”s logistics arm AAICLAS.
Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “We are proud to launch our first-ever multimodal cargo movement between Dhaka and Spain via Kolkata and New Delhi with the help of the civil aviation ministry and AAICLAS.”
Multimodal cargo service will actively and effectively contribute in streamlining cargo shipment across various domestic and international sectors, reduce cost and ensure self-reliance, helping realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, he added.