Role of air cargo in the economy development of a nation

Air cargo allows a nation to connect with the global supply chain effectively and efficiently. The geographical location of a nation has no impact on the growth of air cargo services .The land locked country can also have the more efficient air cargo infrastructure.  Only an air cargo service will enable a landlocked country to connect to the global market.  The growth of economy in several developing countries depends on the air cargo services. The market reach of a nation and its products increases with the reach of air cargo service.

The trade in fruits, seasonal vegetations, and different types of flowers gives employment to hundreds of thousands of people in several developing countries. The air cargo services play a vital role in small tropical countries in the Caribbean, as they can connect with advanced markets of the North America efficiently. The least developed countries of the Africa and Latin America   can overcome the inadequate land infrastructure to gain export markets in Europe and America.

The speed and reliability International Parcel Service in Kandivali of the air services is the reason why relief supplies, medical supplies and emergency aid are always provided through air cargo services. The delivery of vital industrial parts, medical organs for transplantations are done only through air cargo services. Efficient air cargo services are the only mode to connect the remote part of India like north east and ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir during winter months.

Many small nations depend on air cargo services for exports of perishable products. For example, in Kenya, an east African country, the horticulture is third major source of foreign exchange. The flowers are exports to the Europe and Netherlands is the major market of the horticulture sector of the country. Since followers are the highly perishable commodity, they must reach the end user within short period of time. The flowers are exported in the morning and reach the Amsterdam market at evening.

The largest economy International Parcel Service in Borivali benefit of the air cargo service is that it increases the overall productivity level of the economy. It also boosts exports; increase the size of markets, and at the same time increases competition, which reduces the cost for end consumers. 

The increase in exports and opening up of new markets creates new jobs in the local economy. When air cargo services increase between destinations, the chances of increase in foreign direct investment also goes up. The investment of capital and technology creates a new cycle of growth and prosperity for the region and subsequently for the nation.   

Growth factors of air cargo service and challenges faced by it

The demand for air cargo services has increased manifold in India. The demand has increased because of short product life and demand for delivery of the product on the time. The growth in trade in perishable products has accelerated the growth of air cargo. The perishable cargo cannot be transported by ships. The changing business models and global outsourcing has also lifted the air cargo movements in India. The companies are now reaching to the market in faster paces. The import of components, sourcing of parts and inputs and delivery the final products is part of the value added chain. The companies cannot wait for months to receive the parts or components from ships to deliver the final products. The export of fruits, vegetables, and horticulture products needs air cargo services. The supply of critical parts of industry or manufacturing units also goes through air cargo. The documents are sending through air parcel services.  

The demand for air International Parcel Service in Kandivali cargo will continue to increase as the growth of the economy will take the economy to higher trajectory. The growth of airlines business in India, after the latest government policy to allow low cost airlines with less than five years of experience to fly abroad will create more belly space for air cargo. 

The issues which are blocking the growth of air cargo in India at present are lengthy process of cargo delivery, lack of auto processing for shifting the cargo from one part of the terminal to another and queues at the terminals. 

The infrastructure of the air cargo industry needs to be modernized, so that the industry is able to match the growth of the economy. Of all the parts of the air cargo operations, the cargo terminals are critical part. The loading and unloading of cargo takes place at the terminals. The three main part of the air cargo terminal, are airlines, forward cargo agents and air cargo terminal operators.

The development of International Courier service in Church gate new exclusive terminals is essential to make sure that time spent at the terminals is less and cargo is put on the airlines without waste of time. The modernization of air terminal for cargo will clear the cargo for export without logistic hurdle.  

The government has to give proper thought to the air cargo sector. The sector needs fast clearance for any up gradation and introduction of automation processes.  The proposals to increase direct foreign investment in the sector will enable the sector to handle increasing air cargo.

Modernization of major Indian ports for increasing cargo handling capacity

In coming years it is estimated that the ports of Indian will handle more traffic via cargo and container ships .The current capacity of the Indian ports is only 1500 MTPA, while it is estimated that by the year 2025, the ports have to handle the 2500 MTPA cargo. To meet this growing traffic at ports, the government of India, has started a modernization drive of major ports of India.

Under the sagarmala project, the various steps are being taken to increase the capacity of major ports of India to deal with growing traffic. These steps include not only modernization but also increase the draft that is depth of the ports. Increased depth of the ports, ensure that big ships and ultra large vessels can berth in the ports. The third step is to mechanization of ports that is using modern machines and equipments to load and unload the cargo from ships and containers. The use of machines reduces the time spend in loading and unloading. The less time means that more and more ships can be handled within short period of time.

The lack of modernization has held back the capacity of major ports. The machines used at the ports are insufficient to meet the current requirements of ships and container ships. The need has been felt at some ports to change the machines and equipments for handling cargo. These ports are kandla, tuticorn and haldia. Twenty new harbor cranes have been sanctioned for use at major ports.

The depth at major ports in India is low compare to several leading ports of the world. The result of this low depth has been that major container ships by pass India and go to either Singapore or Dubai for unloading traffic. The size of ships has increased in the last few years. It is important to make International Relocation Service inAndheri India ports capable of handling the large vessel to keep pace with word cargo traffic and growth. The draft has to be increased from current levels of 12 – 14 or 18 meters to at least 22 meters for handling large container ships

The growth of major International Relocation Service in Andheri ports is restricted by the lack of new terminal or development of existing facilities. The existing ports need new berths and terminals to take more cargo and generate more revenue.  All these steps have to be implemented not only at major ports but also at small ports to ensure that major part of Indian exports goes through Indian ships, not foreign ships.