The Hindu Business Line : New freighter aircraft fly into India

As domestic and foreign airlines are increasingly cottoning on to the potential of India's air cargo market, the country's airports will be seeing new generation air freighters taking off in the months to come.

The growth in air freight services to and from India, especially in the wake of the burgeoning trade in the pharma and gem and jewellery sectors, has been attracting new and existing airlines in this space. Apart from the national carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India, new players such as Jet Airways, GoAir and Kingfisher Airlines have charted out plans to play a bigger role in the air freight market.

The air freight cargo has steadily risen from 4.16 lakh tonnes in 1998-99 to 4.91 lakh tonnes in 2000-01, 5.84 lakh tonnes in 2003-04 and over 6.20 lakh tonnes in 2004-05. The major items air freighted out of India are garments, machinery, components, pharmaceuticals, dyes, chemicals and perishables like fruit, vegetables, flowers, fish and meat. Air India, which currently has leased belly space on Falcon Aviation to meet demand on the Kerala-Gulf and the India-Germany sectors, is in the process of converting two of its A310 aircraft into freighter aircraft by September 2007.

As the airline takes delivery of its new fleet in the last quarter of 2006, its cargo capacity will also increase. Besides, A-I may augment its cargo capacity by leasing B747-400 aircraft.

Airlines such as Cathay Pacific and air express companies such as Blue Dart are also pressing into service new freighters, setting new trends in carrying cargo.

Blue Dart's freighters

Recently, Blue Dart inducted two Boeing 757-200 freighters into its air express fleet. These were acquired on lease by Blue Dart Aviation, which has an agreement with Blue Dart Express to use its aircraft for dedicated domestic air services.

With the induction of these freighters, the company is adding 21 new connections to its existing network of 39 routes, apart from drawing up plans to set up a hub in Ahmedabad.

Blue Dart's new Boeing 757-200 freighters are a derivative of the twin-engine passenger jetliner. The 757 freighter has a two-person flight deck and is designed to accept up to 15 pallets with a payload of 28 tonnes on its main deck and additional freight in its lower holds. The major features include a large side-cargo door in the forward fuselage, a single crew entry door just ahead of it and a windowless freighter interior with 6,600 cubic feet of cargo space on the main deck. It can fly both long- and short-haul.

A company official said it would service the five metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore and the sub-metro cities of Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, which together accounted for 90 per cent of the total air cargo distribution in the country. "The Gujarat markets will be greatly benefited with faster deliveries as a result of our new routes, and the Hyderabad outbound gateway will be connected to the rest of India to service our customers more efficiently," he pointed out.

Cathay's services

Hong-Kong headquartered Cathay Pacific is also launching six new freighter services in India — three to connect Delhi, Hong Kong and Paris and the other three from Mumbai to Hong Kong and Paris. In fact, Cathay Pacific made its biggest ever commitment for new freight aircraft with an order for six Boeing 747-400 ERFs (Extended Range Freighters) in June this year — these are scheduled to arrive between May 2008 and April 2009.

The 747-400 ERF has a maximum payload of 1.12 lakh kg and can carry about 9,980 kg more than the 747-400 freighters on long-range flights at maximum take-off weight.

In fact, Cathay Pacific became the world's first airline to take delivery of a brand new type of freight aircraft converted from a Boeing 747-400 passenger jet in December last year. The Boeing 747-400 BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter) was converted from a Cathay Pacific passenger aircraft— it has firm orders for six such aircraft and options on six more.

The aircraft's conversion took place at TAECO in Xiamen, China, with the major structural changes including removal of all previous passenger fittings, installation of a reinforced floor, cargo handing system and cutting a large loading door in the rear of the aircraft's fuselage.

Also, Cathay Pacific's first `Silver Bullet' freighter, stripped bare of most of its paint, has been put into service early this year, as part of its initiative to stem the spiralling fuel costs. The polished silver fuselage makes a Boeing 747 about 200 kg lighter and will save about HK$2.8 million (or Rs 1.67 crore) from the airline's annual fuel bill when implemented across the 14-strong freighter fleet, as less weight reduces aircraft's fuel burn.

Virtually, the entire aircraft body has been stripped bare, with the exception of the tail and a strip along the aircraft's nose to maintain the airline's identity. To further reduce weight, the airline used new containers, known as ULDs, that are made of `Twintex'— at 73 kg per container, it is 24 kg lighter than the old containers.

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