Tatas buy into Quikjet Cargo

Mumbai: The Tata group, which has a 6% stake in New Delhi-based low-cost airline SpiceJet Ltd, has picked up a stake in Bangalore-based cargo airline Quikjet Cargo, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who did not wish to be identified.
The person did not elaborate on the magnitude of the stake or the money Tata Capital Ltd, the Tata group’s private equity arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd, the group’s holding company, paid for it.
Quikjet will start operations in April. Executives at the Tata group and Quikjet declined comment.
Movement of air cargo to and from India, and across destinations within the country, is expected to rise even as the economy continues to grow at more than 9% a year.
Aleks Popovich, global head, cargo, of International Air Transport Association, a body that represents more than 240 airlines accounting for 94% of scheduled international air traffic, said the international air cargo market in India (by volume) has been growing at 8.23% a year, next only to China’s 10.8%.
According to Dinesh A. Keskar, vice-president, sales (commercial airplanes) of Boeing Co., which sells passenger as well as cargo planes, the domestic air cargo market is expected to grow at 9.1% a year, but there are just 12 planes serving this market.
28/01/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: cargo Jan 2008, New Jan 2008