FEATURE REGIONAL ANALYSIS INDIA
Kolkata. In large metropolitan areas, where the existing airport cannot accommodate future growth, a second facility is being planned to serve the same city. However, at the end of November the government warned that the expansion plans at the airports in Chennai and Kolkata are among 40 projects likely to be hit by additional delays.
Significant role Airports Authority India (AAI) recognises that although less than 1 percent of export trade by volume leaves India by air, that cargo represents 35 percent by value of the country’s total exports. As such, the country’s air gateways are a nucleus of economic activity and assume a significant role in the national economy. In his inaugural address as the incoming AAI chairman in December, V P Agrawal highlighted that the country has the potential to be a leading hub for passengers and cargo traffic. He suggested various ways to meet the challenges ahead by upgrading the facilities, improving connectivity, building new airports, a more efficient use of airspace and a reduction in operating costs. India’s air cargo grew by 21.3 percent
in the first 11 months of the 2010-11 financial year, with about 860,000 tonnes of domestic freight and 1.51 million tonnes of international freight being processed through the country’s airports, according to the latest data available from the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Engineering goods, textiles, pharmaceuticals, leather, gems and jewellery are the major exports from India, CAPA said. One of the country’s biggest exports
over the past few decades, however, has been the unrestrained outward flow of its well-educated workforce. Global industry, research and development laboratories and medical facilities worldwide have benefited from the situation. But, attracted by the improving levels of salaries and employment opportunities becoming available in India, some of these self-imposed exiles are returning home and the younger talent within the country has the option
34 AIR LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT
Bharat Thakkar
to the growth and efficiency of the air freight
“The main hurdle
industry in India is the inadequate infrastructure”
of not joining the ‘brain drain’ in the first place. This should be another boost for consumer confidence in the retail market. According to Bharat Thakkar,
president of the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI), the only national association representing the air forwarding industry in the subcontinent: “India is one of the fast-emerging economies of the world and the air cargo industry is matching the economic growth. Our increasing dominance on the world stage in commercial terms is best illustrated by the growth of large automobile, telecom, pharmaceuticals and hospitality businesses within the country, amongst other industries.” Thakkar stated: “India is one of the
few countries that overcame the slowdown with a 12 percent increase in business traffic in 2010-11, bringing back good memories of the good old times.” Nonetheless: “The main hurdle to the growth and efficiency of the air freight industry in India is the inadequate
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