By Aritra Banerjee
Delhi International Airport Limited, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited, has witnessed healthy Cargo growth last year. It has successfully handled 9.3 Lakh Metric Tonnes Cargo between January 2021 and December 2021. It was the highest total cargo volume handled by any airport in the country in 2021.
Out of 9.3 Lakh, MT Cargo handled by Delhi Airport, 3.3 Lakh MT was domestic Cargo and 6 Lakh MT International Cargo. The key product categories handled by Delhi Airport included ready-made garments (RMG), Electronics goods, Pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, Automobile/machine parts.
Delhi Airport witnessed an impressive Cargo growth of about 27 per cent compared with cargo handled by Delhi Airport in 2020. Delhi Airport handled 7.3 Lakh MT of Cargo in 2020.
Delhi Airport is the largest and busiest airport in the country. It is the only airport to handle over 10 Lakh MT in 2019, about 30% of India’s total air Cargo.
In 2021, Delhi Airport handled over 25,000 Cargo flight Air Traffic Movements (ATMs), whereas, in 2019, this figure was around 9,900 ATMs.
Last year, Delhi Airport also witnessed increased connectivity to international destinations. In 2021, global connections from Delhi increased to 87 destinations from 71 in 2019. Major international routes in 2021, which showed high recoveries, were majorly USA, Germany, France, UK, UAE.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation designated Delhi Airport as a major hub for handling COVID-19 Relief material. It handled over 150 Cargo Relief flights with around 2,000 MT of COVID-19 Relief Cargo. The airport handled over 38 million PPEs/Medical supplies, including bodysuits, ventilators, Oxygen Concentrators, Temperature guns, gloves, etc.
Delhi Airport also smoothly distributed COVID-19 relief material to 24 states and 5 Union Territories, benefitting over 60,000 frontline warriors – doctors, nurses, and security personnel.
To cater to future demand and growth, Delhi Airport has undertaken various initiatives and proactively created infrastructure to cater to the rising demand. DIAL has developed three new freighter bays in front of the Cargo Terminals, taking the total number of parking bays to 12, the highest in the country.
Delhi Airport is looking forward to enhancing Transhipment Cargo through the airport connecting under-served or unserved regions to the rest of the world.
Delhi Airport has the most extensive connectivity in the country to the rest of the world. To promote Transhipment and be the hub for the country, it has created Transhipment Excellence Centre, a unique facility on the airside to facilitate faster movement of Transshipment Cargo.
“In spite of major disruption caused by COVID in global supply chain last year, Delhi Airport registered a robust growth in cargo. It was possible due to airport’s strong international connectivity and various initiatives taken by DIAL in collaboration with its stakeholders to maintain smooth Cargo operations and driving recoveries to the pre-COVID levels,” said Mr. Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO-DIAL.
To facilitate stakeholders and promote cargo, Delhi Airport has created Tier-2 facilities on the airport i.e. Air Cargo Logistics Centre (ACLC), providing warehousing space for freight forwarders and logistics companies on the global cargo village concept to facilitate consolidation of cargo and perform other activities nearby of cargo terminals.
Further, Delhi Airport has introduced various process enhancement initiatives at the cargo terminals like e-gate passes, truck management systems, etc., for seamless processing and movement of cargo.
Delhi Airport is continuously working with Government agencies and its stakeholders to promote cargo and make Delhi a major Indian hub of the region.
Witnessing a 102 per cent Cargo recovery in December 2021 over Pre-COVID levels, the outlook for 2022 looks quite promising, with Cargo recoveries improving further.