Under the chairmanship of Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Cargo Advisory Sub-Group of the Civil Aviation Advisory Group held its third meeting recently. The Cargo Advisory Sub-Group addressed issues for the attention of the Minister of Civil Aviation, such as air cargo traffic handled during COVID affected years, and future air cargo projects.
The Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia formed a Civil Aviation Advisory Group to comprehensively address the issues concerning maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), cargo carriage, Flight Training Organisation (FTO) and ground handling (GH). The key members of Cargo Sub-Group, including Keku B. Gazder, CEO, AAICLAS; Cyrus Katgara, President, ACFI, and Partner, Jeena & Company; Tushar Jani, Chairman, CSC; G.V.S. Reddy, Chairman, APAO; and Vipin Vohra, Convener, Air Freight Council, FFFAI. Members of associations, such as ACFI, ACAAI, FFFAI and others were also present.
The Cargo Advisory Sub-Group headed by Cyrus Katgara, President, ACFI, is committed to create a congenial ecosystem in the country by addressing the current challenges of air cargo logistics industry, suggesting regulatory, policy improvements and improvements in the infrastructure facilities and measures for better efficiency for the growth of air cargo trade/industry as well as economic development of the country. The Cargo Advisory Sub-Group has held regular meetings with the members of Civil Aviation Advisory Group headed by the Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia and held three useful meetings till now.
The third meeting of the Cargo Advisory Sub-Group with the Civil Aviation Advisory Group under the Chairmanship of Jyotiraditya Scindia was held on October 28, 2021. In the presentation of Cargo Advisory Sub-Group before the members of Civil Aviation Advisory Group, Cyrus Katgara touched upon the following issues for the attention of the Minister of Civil Aviation:
- Major airports landscape: World top 10 and Indian airports
- Air cargo traffic (domestic and international) handled during COVID affected years FY2019-20, FY2020-21 and FY2021-22
- Future air cargo projections: FY2020-21 to FY2030-31
- Key to air cargo growth: Capacity creation for EXIM by Indian and foreign airlines
Following points of the presentation were taken up by Sanjiv Edward, Secretary, ACFI:
- Air cargo hubs – The game changer
- Transshipment hubs to boost air cargo
- Effective air cargo ecosystem
The Minister recommended the following for the Cargo Advisory, Sub-Group members:
- The PPT pie chart on the effective air cargo ecosystem, i.e., air cargo infrastructure, network development, and operational excellence, the Minister CA wants a clear suggestions (from Cargo Advisory Group) about what needs to be done by MOCA and other ministries or any regulator.
- The Minister also requested that the Cargo Advisory Sub-Group present a proposed design for a good cargo airport (tier-I, II, and III) setup based on the Indian scenario and requirements.
- On the topic of benchmarking Indian airports with global airports and the successful impact of cargo hub strategy, the Minister has expressed an interest in researching the global business drivers and KSF, i.e. operational excellence, network development, and attractive business location, for other major international airports (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Hyderabad), as shown in the presentation for Delhi Airport.
- The Minister has also set November 12, 2021 as the date for the fourth meeting of the Cargo Advisory Sub-Group.
The meeting concluded with the vote of thanks to the Chair.
