Southern Giants Up Their Cargo Game

The Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports have enhanced their cargo facilities. The aim is to make the airports gateways.

The recent launch of the ‘AISATS Cargo’ mobile app by Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS) with its facilities located at the Bengaluru International Airport (KIA), marked one more milestone in the move towards boosting the pharma and perishable exports from the country. Over the last few years, major airports in the country — especially the ones run by private operators — have focused on pharma and perishable exports.

The Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports – the first run by GVK and the second by GMR — have upped their game to become the focal point for air cargo in the region. Barely an hour’s flight away from each other, the two airports have been vying with each other to become cargo gateways of the south of India.

Sometime ago, for example, Bengaluru Airport in collaboration with its cargo partners – Menzies Aviation Bobba Bengaluru and AISATS – successfully completed a three month run of its bonded trucking service from Tirupur (320 km by road from Bengaluru), well known as the Knitwear Capital of India, to the airport. Part of an ambitious project, the Knitwork Connect BLR, was started in April this year with the aim of speeding up international trade from the airport.

Hari Marar, President, Airport Operations, Bengaluru gave out the reason for pushing cargo. “Our cargo business,” he said, “has seen phenomenal growth in the past year. To sustain this in the long term, we are committed to creating a robust ecosystem that supports and propels the growth of not just Karnataka (the state), but the entire South Indian region in the global cargo supply chain.”