VIJAYAWADA: Aimed at expanding its cargo facilities, airline major SpiceJet launched its first dedicated freight service connecting Vijayawada with other parts of the country on Saturday. The airline operated its first freight flight SpiceXpress from Vijayawada to Kolkata carrying 15 tonnes of cargo. Vijayawada International Airport Director G Madhusudana Rao, along with SpiceJet regional manager Ravi Kumar and Shreepa Logistics Private Limited CEO Rama Rao, launched the facility on the Gannavaram airport terminal premises on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Airport Director said that a domestic cargo facility was launched at the old terminal building in June, 2018 and the services commenced in August. About 40 tonnes of cargo is handled per day through Airbus-320 and Boeing 707 in a 200 square metres area.
In the last seven months, the terminal has handled a cargo capacity of 400 to 450 tonnes of aqua products like shrimp and fish to other parts of the country. The newly-launched freight service will be operated between Vijayawada and Kolkata thrice a week to transport aqua products from the fish ponds and sea within 200 km radius of Vijayawada, Rao said.
“We are requesting the aqua farmers and traders to make use of the cargo facilities launched from the terminal to export perishable goods from Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and twin Godavari districts to Kolkata, Mumbai and Surat at affordable prices,” the Airport Director said. He further said that steps are being taken to develop a designated building in an extent of 2,500 square metres for handling exclusive cargo operations along with a cold storage facility.