Jolt to Mihan as AI cargo service grounded

Nagpur: While chief minister Ashok Chavan is trying to push Mihan, there is another shocker awaiting the prestigious project. National carrier Air India is almost ready to dump its freighter services that were supposed to use Nagpur's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport as hub. Announced in 2007, the project was to be launched by converting Air India's old Boeing 737s into freighters.
Air India was supposed to launch the cargo services connecting six major destinations through Nagpur. It would have greatly added to the appeal of Mihan. However, the cash-strapped Air India seems to have abandoned the plan. In fact, it has offered the reconfigured aircraft for sale. This development is another jolt to Mihan after the India Post recently discontinued its 'night airmail service'.
A local Air India official, requesting anonymity, said the company had planned to operate AI's reconfigured aircraft in phases from Nagpur. However, plans have not fructified and now management has decided to shelve the project.
Another official in Mumbai said, "AI plans to sell six Boeing 737-200 freighters which were converted for cargo operations in 2007," he said.
30/09/10 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

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AI plans to sell 6 Boeing freighters

Mumbai: National air carrier Air India plans to sell its six Boeing freighters with indications that the airline may shelve its plans to spin off its cargo business into a separate subsidiary.
“We are looking at selling out our six Boeing 737-200 freighters as the plans to have a dedicated cargo business through a subsidiary is unlikely to take off now,” Air India sources said here.
Air India will be inviting tenders from interested companies to phase out these aircraft, sources said. Besides, the airline has already put on sale its four A-310 freighters, they said.
The six Boeing 737-200 freighters belong to the erstwhile Indian Airlines and were converted into cargo planes from passenger aircraft in 2007, as the airline had plans to launch a dedicated domestic cargo service using Nagpur as its hub.
27/09/10 PTI/Economic Times

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Indian entrepreneur taps regional demand for fresh food by air mail

An Indian entrepreneur has launched an air freight business to ship fresh Japanese vegetables and fish to mainland Asia.
The service is growing popular with Japanese agricultural cooperatives and catalog-based retailers who sell organic vegetables and are eager to cash in on growing demand for Japanese produce among the wealthy.
Pankaj Garg, 44, president of Innovation Thru Energy Co., a venture based in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district, launched the service in August in a tieup with Japan Airlines Corp.
The key to keeping the products fresh is a special refrigeration method powered by an "ice battery," which can keep produce at a constant temperature much longer than dry ice through the use of multiple refrigerant plates.
The battery works like a "cooling pillow" used to provide relief to people who have fevers. Prior to shipping, it is cooled in a freezer.
Garg majored in information technology at an Indian university before coming to Japan in 1988 to work for a major steel company.
It was in 2006 that he came upon the ice battery system developed by a Taiwanese research institute and decided to develop a system that would allow Japanese growers to export their products to first-class hotels and well-off Asian consumers.
Bankrupt JAL, which is aiming to develop a business for transporting high-class foodstuffs by air as part of its turnaround efforts, took note of Garg. In the summer of 2009, Japan Airlines International Co. came calling.
Ryuhei Nomoto, manager of the company's marketing division, was initially skeptical of the ice battery's reliability. But an experiment proved that the preset temperature inside the storage box containing the battery could be maintained even in flight.
20/09/10 Kyodo News/Japan Times

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Need for cargo hub in Surat to attract FDI: ASSOCHAM

Surat: The New Delhi-based Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) has asked Union civil aviation minister and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to help set up a full fledged airport for the diamond city of Surat and also a cargo hub to attract huge FDI investment.
ASSOCHAM secretary DS Rawat in a note to Prafful Patel and Narendra Modi has highlighted the potential of south Gujarat.
Rawat said, "Besides being the diamond capital of the world, it could also become hub for textiles, trade, intricate zari works, chemical industries, engineering, logistics and petrochemicals."
He has said in the note that at present, Surat has 6,645 units worth Rs 2,16,790 lakh providing more than 9,000 direct jobs.
16/09/10 Times of India

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Flight withdrawal to hit veggie exports

Amritsar: Export of perishable goods from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to Europe would be hit hard if Air India sticks to its decision to withdraw the Amritsar-London-Toronto flight from next month, say export houses. The Air India website is already advising passengers, who are trying to book seats in October/November, to catch the Delhi-London-Toronto flight from there.
The Perishable Cargo Centre at the Rajasansi International Airport has been handling the export of baby corns, snow peas, sugar snap, okra and other vegetables to London since July, 2006. While it is faster, cheaper and easier to transport fresh vegetables from Himachal Pradesh and Ludhiana to Amritsar, it would take longer and be more expensive to shift the cargo to Delhi, they claimed. Countries like Thailand, Kenya and Guatemala would gain at India’s cost, said Alok Dubey of Field Fresh Food Private Limited.
Both Dubey and Sahib Singh of ‘Namdhari Farm Fresh Private Limited’ point out that it would take eight hours or more, compared to three hours now, to carry the cargo by road to Delhi, where the trucks would have to cope with traffic snarls and where they cannot enter during the day.
12/09/10 Neeraj Bagga/The Tribune

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Cargo facility: Surat needs better air connectivity

The South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (SGCCI) dream of getting a fully functional cargo terminal in Surat remains unfulfilled as of now, after the AAI (Airport Authority of India) demanded better air connectivity before providing the required facility. The AAI is ready to prepare a terminal but only if the city airport gets more flights connecting more number of cities.
The two member team of AAI comprising of D P Singh, GM (AAI) and Y K Goyal, GM (AAI) was in the city to find out the potential of air cargo terminal at Surat Airport. The team conducted a survey of industries located in the city, their daily export and imports and also the infrastructure available at the airport. They found good business potential available in Surat, but were unhappy with the terminal's single flight operation of Surat-Delhi.
The team felt that without proper air connectivity, the terminal would prove unproductive, making the investment useless. "We know that air cargo terminal is necessary for a business hub like Surat, but AAI also needs some assurance before making the investment. It's encouraging that business community in Surat is awaiting the terminal and we have found many positive inputs here.
09/09/10 Rishi Banerji/Daily News & Analysis

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Facilitative measures seen supporting air cargo volumes

Dedicated infrastructure that are being developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) at government-controlled airports, special thrust given to cargo business to boost non-aeronautical revenues by private airports and increased domestic network by Indian carriers seems to have started yielding the desired result as there is a strong uptick in domestic cargo.
Indian air cargo volume has increased 25% in 2009-10 to 691 million metric tonnes from 552 million tonnes the year before, surpassing government forecasts of 686 million tonnes, according to civil aviation minister Praful Patel.
On the other hand, international cargo volume increased 10% to 1.2 billion tonnes for the year compared to 2008-09, falling below government expectations by nine per cent to 1.4 billion tonnes, a shortfall attributed to the global downturn.
AAI has predicted 10% annual growth in international cargo traffic for the next five years. For the domestic cargo, it expects a 15% increase in the first two years and 12% in the subsequent years.
06/09/10 Economic Times

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Flight disruption hits Cargo

Srinagar: Apart from the passengers’ inconvenience, the closure of the Srinagar ‘International’ Airport and the ensued restriction on operation of flights from the Awantipora Air-Base—25 kms from here—has drastically hit the Cargo services to and from the Valley, much to the disappointment of stakeholders.
According to sources, the Cargo service has received a severe jolt since the prevailing unrest in the Valley begun on June 11. As if it was not enough, the flights disruption has compounded the problem. “Normally the incoming and outgoing Cargo is handled by the Air India and JetAirways in particular and other commercial airlines in general. But since the Jet and Air India flights don’t operate to and from the Valley, it has severely hit the Cargo services,” they said.
Cargo worth millions of rupees is airlifted to and from Kashmir daily. The Cargo consignments include medicines, Kashmir arts and handicrafts, fruit, dry flowers, blood samples, Kashmiri carpets and a host of other commodities.
04/09/10 Faheem Aslam/Greater Kashmir

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Cargo station at Surat airport to take wings!

Surat: Two senior officials of Airport Authority of India (AAI) will be in the city on a three-day tour to find out the feasibility of operationalising a cargo station at Surat airport. They will also explore the possibility of a cargo hub for 50 aircraft at the airport as planned by the AAI. A meeting under the aegis of South Gujarat Chamber and Commerce and Industries (SGCCI) with the trade representatives is also scheduled to assess the potential of revenue from the region.
"The two-member team of AG Goyal, general manager cargo and GP Singh, GM, corporate planning, of AAI, will arrive here on September 5. The team will make a survey of available infrastructure at Surat airport and assess its feasibility for cargo station," said R V Talpe, incharge airport controller of Surat airport.
He also added, "A final decision will be taken after the meeting with the trade representatives on September 7." SGCCI president Ajoy Bhattacharya said, " Vapi Industrial Association has also written to us to say that it would like to utilise Surat airport's cargo station for ferrying goods."
03/09/10 Himanshu Bhatt/Times of India

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Snag hits cargo clearance

Kolkata: Consignment agents handling air cargo at the Kolkata airport are facing a problem due to the shutdown of the Customs department system that clears import and export goods. Customs officers acknowledged that they were encountering teething troubles migrating to a new system.
Agents said a lot of cargo was stuck at the warehouse.
01/09/10 Times of India

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