India needs major upgrade at Hyderabad to create top class air cargo hub

INDIA's air cargo sector is on the cusp of capturing growth, but lacks a fully-fledged air cargo hub to support regional connectivity and an intermodal road network.

"India is an exciting market for us. We expect India's contribution to our global [cargo] revenues to increase from 3.5 per cent to five per cent this fiscal and 10 per cent in the next three to four years," said Cathay Pacific director of cargo Nick Rhodes.

India's tonne-per-billion GDP is at only 516, handling just 2.5 million tonnes. This compares to top air cargo hubs such as Hong Kong at 12,883 for 4.2 million tonnes handled, and UAE airports at 16,951 for 3.10 million tonnes handled.

India is expected to grow domestic 12 per cent to 5.9 million tonnes and international cargo by 10 per cent to 3.5 million tonnes by 2020, reports The Hindu's Business Line.

India's weight load factor has stayed at just 62 per cent in the last five years indicating much unused capacity. Transhipment cargo volumes are negligible next to leading cargo hubs at highs of 60 to 70 per cent.

Hyderabad airport and Rajiv Gandhi International are poised to be the cargo hubs that India needs to benefit from its location less than two hours away from more than 20 key Indian and other south Asian cities of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, and only four hours from the Middle East. Its current handling of cargo stands at 100,000 tonnes annually with potential to scale up capacity of 150,000 tonnes.

The airport operates up to 2,000 flights weekly of which allows for bellyhold space of two to three tonnes in 737s and 20-25 tonnes in 747s.

Lufthansa Cargo hubs its pharmaceutical products at Hyderabad and Thai Airways and Blue Dart joined Cathay Pacific in offering freighter services, with the latter just launching a twice-weekly freighter service.

The airport is expanding its apron to allow for accommodation of A380s and to scale up its terminal capacity to save money for airlines and the trade, said a senior officer at the airport.

It hopes that by positioning itself as a transhipment hub it can save the customer money in getting a cargo load from one regional city to another and instead to land at Hyderabad and have cargo transshipped to the many cities in its catchment area.

Regional frequencies have increased by over a 100 within a five-month period with carriers benefiting from its 33,000-tonne capacity dedicated temperature-controlled pharma zone, a 20-acre Free Trade Zone with warehousing and distribution and the integrated terminal operated by GMR and Menzies Aviation of UK.

The airport needs to be supported by 24/7 customs clearance like Hong Kong, Dubai and Shanghai rather than Delhi and Mumbai with their one-shift system.

"The infrastructure, connectivity and ancillary facilities are ready. Once we get a [domestic] carrier, the airport will soon serve as India's much-needed air cargo hub," said the senior officer.