Gopinath's cargo airline goes global

New Delhi: India's first cargo airline to launch international freight operations was flagged off on Wednesday from IGI Airport Cargo Terminal.
This is yet another brainchild of Capt G R Gopinath, the man who revolutionalized low cost travel in India.
Called Deccan 360, the first plane, an A-310, took off from Delhi for Hong Kong, the world's second largest cargo hub. It was flagged off by Dr Naseem Zaidi, director general of civil aviation. Two more A-310s, each capable of carrying 35 tonnes of cargo, will be inducted soon and by September, six ATR42 planes will be added to the fleet.
Speaking on the occasion, Gopinath said the airline was born out of the frustrations he encountered while he was in Air Deccan, India's first budget airline. "The logistics supply chain would often make us lose valuable time and money. Many airline companies go to six-seven such companies to transport vital airline spares such as tyres and engines across the country.'' He remembers the day he had to get an engine for an Air Deccan plane in Kolkata. "It took me seven days to move that engine from Delhi to Kolkata, first from Delhi to Singapore and from there to Kolkata. So I thought why not start my own logistics company. After all, vision is the art of seeing the impossible.''
At present, India has seven cargo planes with a combined capacity of just 120 tonnes, as compared to China's 100 dedicated cargo planes, he says. "For a country of over a billion people, the possibilities are endless for anyone with optimism and energy.'' However, India's logistics industry is severely hampered, curbing growth and opportunities. "India needs 100 cargo planes over the next 10 years,'' says Gopinath.
28/05/09 Times of India

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