AS India prepares to resume international passenger services, air freight shippers and forwarders are searching for consistent additional bellyhold capacity in a market hindered by high rates and bad service, reports London's Loadstar.
'The government has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services from 27 March, the start of summer schedule 2022,' said the Indian Ministry of Aviation.
Covid crisis lockdowns shut down scheduled services two years ago, sending the travel industry into chaos.
With shortages and widespread disruption on the ocean side, the demand for air freight capacity spiked, presenting a strong market for charter services.
Said Jet Freight Logistics (JFL) director Joy John: 'Allowing the airlines to operate commercial services to their capacity is a welcome change and a win-win situation for the industry,'
'The export-import trade will benefit, with more capacity and choice, which will be a relief for shippers,' he said.
Mumbai-based JFL is moving closer to its plan of launching an in-house airline to cement its airfreight footprint in India.
Mr John declared that with the extra capacity, Indian shippers can expect some rate corrections.
'The capacity constraints of air cargo due to flight operating restrictions only resulted in steep air freight rates,' said Mr John.
'Last year, cargo demand exceeded pre-Covid (2020) levels by eight per cent, and this year the demand is expected to exceed pre-crisis (2019) levels by 13 per cent.'
However, German forwarder DB Schenker believes the capacity challenges in the Indian market will persist.
Said DB Schenker CEO Vivek Chopra: 'Although the operational efficiency of the industry is nearing pre-Covid levels, we are still witnessing a continued dip in the regular capacity.'
'The charter services have been performing well, further addressing the supply chain needs of our customers,' said Mr Chopra.
'[Any real improvement] will take a few months and customers' willingness to travel, given the new (Covid) cases around the Asia Pacific,' said Mr Chopra.
'In addition, the current geopolitical situation in the Western world poses numerous bottlenecks for airlines, including longer flying time due to routing changes, additional flying time that requires rotational crew or second set of crew, and lastly, carriers are expected to carry extra fuel to meet any exigencies.'
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'The government has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services from 27 March, the start of summer schedule 2022,' said the Indian Ministry of Aviation.
Covid crisis lockdowns shut down scheduled services two years ago, sending the travel industry into chaos.
With shortages and widespread disruption on the ocean side, the demand for air freight capacity spiked, presenting a strong market for charter services.
Said Jet Freight Logistics (JFL) director Joy John: 'Allowing the airlines to operate commercial services to their capacity is a welcome change and a win-win situation for the industry,'
'The export-import trade will benefit, with more capacity and choice, which will be a relief for shippers,' he said.
Mumbai-based JFL is moving closer to its plan of launching an in-house airline to cement its airfreight footprint in India.
Mr John declared that with the extra capacity, Indian shippers can expect some rate corrections.
'The capacity constraints of air cargo due to flight operating restrictions only resulted in steep air freight rates,' said Mr John.
'Last year, cargo demand exceeded pre-Covid (2020) levels by eight per cent, and this year the demand is expected to exceed pre-crisis (2019) levels by 13 per cent.'
However, German forwarder DB Schenker believes the capacity challenges in the Indian market will persist.
Said DB Schenker CEO Vivek Chopra: 'Although the operational efficiency of the industry is nearing pre-Covid levels, we are still witnessing a continued dip in the regular capacity.'
'The charter services have been performing well, further addressing the supply chain needs of our customers,' said Mr Chopra.
'[Any real improvement] will take a few months and customers' willingness to travel, given the new (Covid) cases around the Asia Pacific,' said Mr Chopra.
'In addition, the current geopolitical situation in the Western world poses numerous bottlenecks for airlines, including longer flying time due to routing changes, additional flying time that requires rotational crew or second set of crew, and lastly, carriers are expected to carry extra fuel to meet any exigencies.'
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