SpiceJet will launch dedicated freighter services on September 18, making it the first scheduled domestic airline in the country to diversify into the air freight market.

This was announced at a function at the Delhi airport on Monday where the first dedicated freighter aircraft was inaugurated by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation. SpiceJet will operate its cargo services under the brand name SpiceXpress. This will be operated as a separate business unit under SpiceJet Ltd.

Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, said the airline will initially start operations on the Delhi-Bengaluru route but will also look at Guwahati, Hong Kong, Amritsar and Kabul.

The airline plans to induct four Boeing freighters this year, which will see the airline offering haulage of 27,000 tonnes per month from the current 15,000 tonnes, Singh added. “The new venture will be a division of SpiceJet. Initially, we will operate two Boeing 737-700s and two Boeing 737-800s,” Singh added. Currently SpiceJet has a cargo capacity of 500 tonnes a day which is mostly as a result of the cargo carried in the belly of the 58 passenger aircraft it operates.

The four Boeing freighter aircraft will be acquired on an operating lease, Singh said pointing out that the airline had not incurred any major capital expenditure on the new project.

Singh feels that the new venture will prove beneficial to a number of industries including pharmaceutical and electronic goods, as also time-sensitive businesses. “The possibilities are immense,” Singh said, adding the new service will also look at transporting perishable commodities from the North-East and from Jammu and Kashmir.

Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India, pointed out that the state-owned airport operator was adding a “lot of cargo capacity” at different airports around the country that will help ventures like the one being started by SpiceJet.

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