New Delhi: While schedule international flights to and from India remain suspended since March-end, international cargo movement is picking up. Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has said it handled more cargo this September than same month last year, “with international cargo leading the recovery, following a prolonged slump due to the pandemic.”
It says Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport is “the first metro airport in India to record growth in freight in September 2020, compared to the same period last year.”
Also, BIAL said it has “reconnected 51 domestic destinations, achieving 88% connectivity of the pre-Covid routes. In addition, Vande Bharat Mission and air bubble programmes have enabled (us) to connect with 22 international destinations. With the gradual easing of restrictions, air traffic movement has witnessed an encouraging trend, recovering to 53% of the previous year's flight movements…”
“In the first first two quarters of FY2020-21, between April and September, BLR Airport cargo terminals processed 131,603 MT of freight. The cargo processed in September was 32,449 MT, a growth of +0.3%, against same period last year. September 2020 witnessed a +4.5% growth in international cargo, of which export cargo grew by +7.6%. Meanwhile, domestic cargo is showing a slower recovery at -5.2% lower than the same period in the previous year,” it said in a statement.
While perishable cargo has been one of the major growth drivers, the other segments driving growth are readymade garments, engineering goods, pharma and medical supplies.
21/10/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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