In the light of the current global macro headwinds, demand for cargo flights to India has declined. According to the Airports Authority of India’s data, there has been a fall in the growth of cargo segment from 13.7 per cent year-on-year growth in June to 6.1 per cent in July, and a de-growth of 1.2 per cent and 0.5 per cent in August and September, respectively. 

In September 2022, Indian airlines carried 274.64 tonnes of freight. This was a 0.5 per cent decline on a year-on-year basis. The decline was mainly due to the fall in international freight of close to 5 per cent. However, domestic freight was up by 6.7 per cent. 

The decline, according to the data, can be witnessed from July onwards. In June, there was a 13.7 per cent spike in freight carried by Indian airlines. In July, however, there was a dip of almost six per cent to 6.1 per cent. In August, Indian carriers saw a dip to -1.2 per cent in the freight carried. 

Businessline reached out to Indian carriers, but were unavailable to comment; however, Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer, Deepak Rajawat, said the industry had high hopes for a surge in cargo during the festival season. However, that, too, seems to be contrary to expectations, especially on the back of relaxed pandemic-related restrictions across the globe.

“This can be attributed to various geopolitical and macroeconomic factors, affecting both domestic as well as international markets. At the same time, the cargo capacity in the industry has increased, making the space more competitive for all players. Having said that, we have managed to add belly-hold capacity across our network with increased number of flights and the demand, too, has kept up with it.” 

Businessline also spoke to multiple experts. They said that besides the general dip in economy, exports have been hit drastically and tariffs have been higher compare to earlier.  One of the persons businessline spoke to said that the tariffs have gone up by 10 per cent.

The person further explained that there has been a general slowdown in exports. This, too, has led to a dip in air cargo. 

According to Ministry data, India achieved a monthly value of merchandise export in September 2022, amounting to $32.62 billion, decreased by 3.52 per cent over $33.81 billion in September 2021.

Yash Pal Sharma, President, Air Cargo Forum India, also pointed out that Air cargo is usually the most expensive mode of freight transport mode, this is pushing people to opt for alternatives of cargo by sea or road. This slowdown in air cargo is likely to continue for another six to nine months.

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