AAI keen on tapping domestic cargo potential in Tirupati

Tirupati: After launching the air cargo services at Tirupati International Airport recently, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has now focussed on increasing the demand for its services as it has several advantages.

Eyeing the local business potential as well as from other neighbouring districts, it wants to increase the cargo services at the pilgrim city.

With the major advantage of transporting the goods to many destinations on the same day itself, the air cargo will go a long way in facilitating the economic growth in the region. The farmers who want to transport perishables and e-commerce companies are also expected to make use of the facility to increase their business activities.

AAI cargo logistics and allied services (AAICLAS) operates the services. The CFO of AAICLAS visited the airport a couple of days ago and deliberated with the Chamber of Commerce delegation in a bid to assess the cargo potential here.

Disclosing the details to The Hans India, Airport Director S Suresh said that the CFO has expressed hope that cargo bookings from Tirupati may speed up soon. Apart from AAICLAS, airline operators and other stakeholders of the airport should proactively work to tap the complete potential of domestic cargo.

It may be noted that currently each flight is being used for the transport of passengers and cargo together. But when the demand for air cargo surges, there is a chance of operating dedicated cargo flights, which may be possible as it is having electronic clusters, the integrated business city and other advantages within its vicinity.

The president of Tirupati Chamber of Commerce A Manjunath said that the business community will certainly make use of the facility. In fact, the Chamber was asking for such a facility for a long time. He said that during their discussions with CFO of AAICLAS, they were apprised of the advantages and other details.

The Chamber has already written to various associations about the facility asking them to make use of the cargo terminal to transport their consignments from small to big one at a quick pace to different destinations. They were told that the cargo fares are also within the reach of customers. It was learnt that approximately Rs 50 to Rs 60 will be charged per kilo. Even valuable items can be safely transported to their destinations.

He said that a separate meeting with Sri City officials has to be conducted to include their participation with which various services at the airport including the passenger footfall can go up. For this, the primary requirement should be developing good road connectivity between Sri City and airport which will attract the industrialists to opt for Tirupati Airport instead of Chennai to avoid severe traffic congestions. In this connection, the Chamber wants to represent to the government to take up the infrastructure development works soon.