Air cargo companies spreading wings to tap ‘business of future’

At least two start-up air cargo firms will begin operating in India this year to service demand from customers engaged in high-tech manufacturing and an expanding retail sector. At least two other firms are awaiting regulatory approval to start similar services.
The civil aviation ministry has approved a plan by Mumbai-based Aviation Consultants Pvt. Ltd to start a scheduled cargo service, dubbed QuickJet, with two leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft.
AFL Logistics, a unit of the AFL group controlled by businessman Cyrus Guzder, and Singapore-based Cardinal Aviation Partners, are the promoters of the new freighter airline, which is also backed by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd and Infrastructure Development Finance Co. Ltd.
Flyington Freighters, a Hyderabad cargo airline company promoted by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, the publisher of Deccan Chronicle newspaper, received approval from the government last year and expects to also start operations this year.
Meanwhile, the country’s largest aviation group by passengers, Jet Airways (India) Ltd, and Reliance Industries Ltd, the largest conglomerate by sales, have been considering entering this market with air cargo operations.
And two other cargo-only airlines, Mumbai-based Avicore Aviation Pvt. Ltd and Delhi-based Aryan Cargo Express Pvt. Ltd, are also awaiting government permissions.
16/01/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: cargo Jan 2008, New Jan 2008