Cargo carriers may get ground handling freedom

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry might look at allowing cargo carriers like Blue Dart and UPS to do their own ground handling at airports. This is a result of a recent representation by Blue Dart, the country’s largest operating cargo carrier, against the new ground handling policy which will come into effect in airports from January 1, 2009.
The representation criticised the proposed policy, saying it ignores the needs of express cargo services which require special handling and would only be increasing their costs and decrease efficiency of the operations.
The representation also said that express cargo carriers like Blue Dart should be allowed to do their own handling at the airports rather than being forced to outsource to others as per the policy. Cargo carriers in the US and Europe are allowed to do their own ground handling.
Express cargo is a specialised form of cargo which entails time-bound deliveries and a money back guarantee. It also involves a system through which the customer can track the whereabouts of his consignment.The ground handling policy says that the same set of agents would handle passenger baggage, cargo that is carried in the bellyhold of passenger aircraft and express cargo. Ground handling agents like Menzies Bobba and Air India-Sats already do the ground handling at Hyderabad and Bangalore airports.
14/09/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Categories: Airports Sep 2008, Cargo Sep 2008