Emirates SkyCargo, the freight arm of Dubai-based airline Emirates, is expecting a flat growth in cargo throughput from India during the current financial year due to the global economic slowdown, said Pradeep Kumar, senior vice-president (cargo revenue optimisation and systems).
“In 2010-11, we had achieved an air cargo throughput of 1.8 million tonne globally, representing a 11.7 per cent growth over last year. From India, our outbound cargo traffic was 133,000 tonne last year, an increase of 14 per cent, while we have done 110,000 tonne so far this year. This year is going to be challenging for us and the growth is going to be flat or even lesser. However, we expect the economy to improve in Q3 and Q4 of this financial year,” he told Business Standard.
According to Kumar, India’s air cargo throughput contributes close to 10% of the global haulage of Emirates SkyCargo. While Perishable goods contributed 30% to its cargo from India, pharmaceutical products and automotive parts accounted for 20 and 11% respectively.
Union minister for civil aviation, Ajit Singh, said at the India Aviation Show today that the cargo handled at Indian airports had seen an impressive growth at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.9% in the last five years, with international cargo accounting for two-thirds of the total.
“Several leading private domestic and global cargo operators such as Celebi, Cargo Service Centre, Menzies have in the last few years brought to the business, the latest technology and global practices. Our ministry is formulating an Air Cargo Promotion Policy, which will be brought forward for consultation,” he added.
Emirates Airlines, which currently operates 171 aircraft across 120 destinations, has eight freighters— four Boeing 777s and four Boeing 747s – in its fleet. At present, Emirates SkyCargo contributes around 17.4 per cent to the airline’s total revenues.
Having wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet and a strong distribution network across Asia and West Asia, Kumar said, the cargo division of Emirates was looking at adding more capacity shortly to connect newer destinations.
“We currently have one freighter connecting Chennai and Dubai. We will be adding three more Boeing 777s— each with a payload of 103 tonne – to our freighter fleet by the end of this calendar. We are continuously looking at various options to enhance freighter connectivity to India. We will start looking at such opportunities once the new freighters get inducted into our fleet,” he said.
