NEW DELHI: After setting a target to achieve a 30% market share in domestic air passenger traffic, Air India is eyeing a 300% growth in cargo capacity in the next five years. As per the Tata Group airline, its belly capacity will grow significantly over next few years, with the addition of new wide-body aircraft to its fleet.
Most of these aircraft, which are part of its record purchase of 470 planes announced earlier this year, are set to arrive from 2025. This comprises wide-body planes of 34 A350-1000, 6 A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and 10 Boeing 777X wide-body aircraft. This will increase Air India’s annual cargo capacity by 300% to 2 million tonnes (MT) over next five years with non-stop connection to key export markets globally.
India’s air cargo reportedly stood flat in FY23 year-on-year to 3.14 MT. The total cargo volumes have remained stagnant for the past two fiscals and are yet to reach the pre-covid levels. Foreign air operators commanded a market share of around 94-95% while the remaining 5-6% was shared among the Indian air operators.
Among local players, Air India and Vistara had the maximum share as they have the advantage of having wide-body planes in their fleet. IndiGo, which is expanding its international operations, is looking to ramp up its cargo business while crisis-hit SpiceJet has hived off its cargo and logistics division ‘SpiceXpress’ into a separate entity. Air India CEO and MD, Campbell Wilson, said, “At Air India, we see a huge potential in the air cargo industry, which the Indian government plans to grow to 10 million tonnes by 2030.”
