News / CarGo freighter services take off as India's airfreight market stays bullish

Photo: IndiGo

IndiGo, India’s largest private airline, continues to consolidate operations at its freight arm, CarGo, for which it sees significant growth potential in the market. 

CarGo has three converted A321 freighters, plans to add a fourth this year and last week began a thrice-weekly freighter connection between Kolkata and Ezhou, in China’s Hubei province, offering around 160 tons of capacity a week. 

According to CarGo International CCO Mark Sutch, Ezhou Huahu International is a freight-centric intermediate airport that presents high-volume prospects for air cargo operators. 

“Ezhou is a new logistics-focused airport with a large express carrier as base airline – think ‘the Memphis of China’,” said Mr Sutch. 

“For our customers, the airport’s central location offers very extensive reach via road feed services to multiple China metros.” 

Until June, Ezhou had 17 international cargo routes connecting 19 destinations, 48 domestic cargo routes and 16 domestic passenger routes, according to available information. 

Mr Sutch recently told The Loadstar CarGo was aiming for a tonnage boost of approximately 19%, as the carrier’s combined revenue out of belly-hold and freighter capacity for fiscal year 2023-24 increased 7% year on year. 

After adding a third freighter to its fleet late last year, the Indian carrier began evaluating service options for China and South-east Asia, despite an unbalanced trade pattern on Asia routes, with little headhaul cargo demand out of India. 

In another CarGo push, IndiGo recently inked an interline agreement with Air France KLM Martinair Cargo to pursue freight network development opportunities. 

Announcing the partnership, Mr Sutch said: “This collaboration not only broadens our service offerings, but also allows us to leverage their extensive global reach, thereby providing our customers with a wider array of options across diverse geographies.” 

Meanwhile, the Indian air cargo market remains bullish. Total volumes at Indian airports in Q1 of fiscal year 2024-25, which began in April, rose 14% year on year, with international flows up 20%. 

According to industry observers, some part of that growth was driven by the modal shift from widely disrupted ocean services resulting from the Red Sea crisis, particularly for shippers of urgent or time-sensitive cargo. 

Vineet Malhotra, co-founder and director at Mumbai-based Kale Logistics Solutions, told The Loadstar air cargo trade in India had seen measurable traction, particularly in the past two years. 

“The growth has been driven by pro-industry government initiatives, e-commerce and maritime trade uncertainties,” he said.  “The Indian manufacturing push is another factor.”