The Hindu Business Line : AI to rationalise rates on cargo from Kerala

WHILE announcing a reduction in its airfares on the Kerala-West Asia sector, Air India has also announced that it is taking steps to eliminate the disparity between rates charged on air cargo shipped from Thiruvananthapuram and consignments shipped from other locations.

Announcing this at a press conference in the city, Mr S. Talwar, Regional Director-India, Air India, said the airline is `rationalising' its freight structure on perishable exports from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to destinations in West Asia. With this decision, the airline will charge uniform rates on perishables exported from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to destinations in West Asia.

This decision is expected to benefit the fruit and vegetable exporters based in and around Thiruvananthapuram, said Ms H. Rana, Commercial Manager-Cargo, Air India. The airline ships around 10 tonnes of perishables from Thiruvananthapuram every day, In fact, the city ranks second — behind Mumbai — in terms of perishables shipped on Air India, she said.

Under the revised air cargo rates, scheduled to come into effect on April 1, the rate from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dammam will be Rs 30 a kg, while for Muscat it will be Rs 29 a kg. The cargo rate from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to Bahrain, Doha and Jeddah will be Rs 36 a kg, while it will be Rs 35 a kg to Riyadh and Rs 40 a kg for consignments to Kuwait.