Air Cargo Deserves Importance

It has been more than a year since Airports Authority of India launched its cargo subsidiary, AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited. With its aim to become the largest networked and fastest growing logistics solution provider in the country, the cargo logistics company is a realisation — though delayed — by the government that air cargo deserves importance for the part it plays in the nation’s economy.

- Tirthankar Ghosh

In October 2016, when India’s Airports Authority of India created a wholly-owned but functionally and administratively-independent cargo subsidiary, the AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited (AAICLAS), air cargo stakeholders felt it was the right step. The AAI with its 125 airports –18 international airports, 7 Customs airports, 78 domestic and 26 civil enclaves at military airfields – had too much on its hands to handle. So, the separation of the cargo department was logical.

A more important reason for the establishment of AAICLAS is the growth of the country’s economy. Today, with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in operation, the importance of air cargo and its impact on the overall economy of the country cannot be overlooked. The AAI management realised that cargo handling was a specialised activity and one that was becoming increasingly personal due to the requirements of air cargo customers.