Capt Gopinath plans to use franchisee model to revolutionise air cargo industry

Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Gopinath, who founded India's first low cost carrier Air Deccan, is all set to revolutionise air cargo industry using the franchisee model.
He is also hoping that his Deccan Cargo & Express Logistics, an air cargo company floated by him and operating under the brand Deccan 360, is expected to break even in the next 18 months. He expects the company to bring in revenue of $70 million in its first year of operation.
"The strategy of Deccan 360 will be the same as that of Air Deccan. In Air Deccan, we had outsourced all activities to outside agencies to cut cost. Here several entrepreneurs will be providing back-up services for Deccan 360," Capt Gopinath said.
He clarified that the supply chain services would be provided by franchisee where Deccan Cargo will have control on the cargo till it is delivered to the doorsteps of customers.
Gopinath indicated there would be more than 100 franchisees to take care of the supply chain once Deccan Cargo operates in full swing.
Initially, the land transport functions would be taken care by freight forwarders, those who have exposure to air cargo.
Deccan Cargo is starting its commercial operations on 27 of this month.
The idea is to create a hub in Nagpur, where the cargo will be aggregated. Later this would be distributed to various international and national points with help of big and small planes.
Jude Fonseka, chief executive officer of the company said the airline is in the process of tying up with at least 100 ground transportation companies that will provide them pick and deliver cargo.
The first cargo plane, wide-bodied plane A310, will fly on route Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-Hong Kong, five times a week.
25/05/09 Economic Times

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Categories: Cargo May 2009, Deccan 360 May 2009, New May 2009