With profits from the passenger side of the airline business coming under pressure with ever-dropping airfares and the break-even date getting pushed further into the horizon, more and more of India’s growing airlines have now trained their sights on the air cargo business.
Indian airlines have flirted with the cargo business before. Air India has already burned its hand with the freight business once and had to shut down its dedicated cargo business 15 years ago after losses mounted.
But the national carrier, whose cargo revenues account for around Rs 600-crore or 10% of its total revenues, expects things to be different this time around.
Industry experts say India is on the verge of a logistics boom. Exports growing at 20%, factories working round-the-clock shifts and a global economy that facilitates cross-border movement of goods have increased demand for logistics services in the country and air-freight is feeling the pressure too.
17/06/06 Taneesha Kulshrestha/Financial Express
