More passenger lines look at cargo to augment revenues

Indian carriers have started looking at increasing cargo carried on the belly space of their planes as they are looking at increasing ancillary revenues, apart from cutting costs. Carriers are pulling their socks to counter the high jet fuel prices, the primary reason to make them to post a combined loss of $2 bn in this current financial year.
Gurgaon-based SpiceJet is aggressively looking at the cargo business and has already put in place the necessary infrastructure required.
"The response from the market has been very positive and encouraging. In the month of June alone we have lifted in excess of 1320 tonnes that has generated revenue of over Rs 3.5 crore. We see a huge demand for our specialized services across industries with special emphasis on auto and garments. There is a huge demand for perishables like food and flowers," Samyukth Sridharan, chief commercial officer, SpiceJet, said.
SpiceJet is now successfully running in nine cities. This includes major metros like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Among the secondary cities are Ahmedabad, Pune and Coimbatore. The company will soon start its cargo operations from Guwahati and Bagdogra.
Kingfisher Airlines, one of India's leading airlines, has started using IBS' iCargoNet, a 'software as a service' (SaaS) version of IBS' new-generation airline cargo management system (CMS), iCargoGold.
18/08/08 Economic Times

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Categories: Cargo Aug 2008, Indian Aviation- In General Aug 2008