The Hindu Business Line : Dedicated terminal adds speed to express cargo

With the launch of a new terminal at Mumbai's Sahar airport meant only for express cargo, passengers can look forward to less cluttered check-in space and lines that move faster.

PASSENGERS at the international terminal at Mumbai's Sahar airport should be enjoying a better check-in experience these days.

With the launch of a dedicated express terminal on February 1, passengers need no longer compete with sacks of express packets and on-board couriers at the check-in counters.

The express cargo terminal at Sahar is the second such facility in the country, after the one set up in Delhi in 2003.

The Mumbai facility is managed by the Express Industry Council of India (EICI), the apex body of express courier operators. Cargo Service Centre (CSC) is the cargo handler at the facility.

That is, it is responsible for accepting and checking the packages, documentation and unitisation. The packages are then sent for ramp-handling to the section concerned.

Mr Tushar Jani, Chairman, EICI, says the terminal will have several beneficial spin-offs for both passengers and express companies.

With all the packages now routed through the new terminal, the security aspect and the convenience of the passengers have been addressed.

At the same time, the facility will boost volumes handled by the express players. The growth of this segment had so far been limited by space constraints at the passenger terminal.

Now, with the dedicated terminal, the speed of processing packages has improved.

The facility does away with the need for the on-board courier as all the parcels are now screened with X-ray machines on site. Thus, express companies can send packages on any airline, improving the speed of service, says Mr Jani.

Mr Radharaman Panicker, Chief Executive Officer, CSC, says the new facility should be able to handle a minimum of 800 tonnes each month; 40 tonnes are processed every day. There is significant potential to raise volumes considering that the express segment is growing by about 25 per cent annually.

While CSC handles 22 tonnes a day, Air India does about 5 tonnes. About 12 tonnes from FedEx and UPS are also routed through the terminal, though both companies have different handlers.

However, Mr Panicker expects these volumes to come to CSC in due course.

Airlines associated with CSC include Air France, Lufthansa, Delta, Gulf Air, and Emirates. Singapore Airlines, South African Airlines and Kuwait Airlines are associated with Air India.

According to Mr Panicker, the Government is considering setting up a similar facility at the Chennai airport.

CSC in India is a fully-owned subsidiary of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Its core business is to provide air cargo handling, warehousing and distribution services to international airlines.

It is also the sole operator at the Centre for Perishable Cargo at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Its competitors in the country include Khambatta, Globe Ground and the Airports Authority of India. Globally, the major cargo-handling agents are Swiss Port, World Menzes, Dnata, and SATS.

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