VISAKHAPATNAM: Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Sunday announced the schedule of the first dedicated cargo flight to be operated by SpiceJet, a private airliner. The Chennai-Surat via Vizag cargo flight will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Chennai-Vizag-Kolkota flight will be run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
According to officials, there has been steady increase in cargo transport from the city in the past five years. However, it has witnessed a quantum jump last year. There has been an increase of 55 per cent and 68 per cent in domestic and international cargo, respectively. Besides if Visakhapatnam is formed as the executive capital of the State, a quantum jump in cargo exports is likely in the near future. In the absence of dedicated cargo flights, most of the cargo is currently being transported from the city by road.
Speaking to TNIE, Visakhapatnam International Airport director M Raja Kishore said the dedicated cargo flight will meet the long-pending demand of exporters, particularly marine and perishable goods, from the city.Kishore said shrimp formed a bulk share of exports from Vizag and the shrimp seed from East and West Godavari and Nellore districts and Pondicherry were being transported from Visakhapatnam. Only a small quantity used to be transported by air due to availability of limited belly space in passenger flights.
It may be noted initially the airlines wanted to operate cargo service between Chennai-Vizag- Kolkota and Chennai- Vizag-Surat from February 15. However, they could not start the service due to non-availability of slots sought by it at the airport.
In the absence of direct flight, most shrimp seed boxes were sent to Surat via Mumbai. As it took a long time to transport it, shrimp seed was losing its quality and there were also instances when the exported shrimp was returned countries such as the United States (US) due to poor quality. Now the dedicated flight will ensure quick and direct delivery to Surat traders so that quality of shrimp seed can be sustained, he said.He said the cargo flight, scheduled to start on December 15 last year, got delayed due to technical issues. Kishore said if there was demand of more than 18 tonnes of cargo from Vizag, the airlines might think of launching a second flight.
Clearance for new taxi track at city airport
The NT taxi track was ready and AAI and the Indian Navy have given necessary security clearances. The operational wing of the airlines will have to clearance, which is expected anytime soon. After getting operational clearance, the taxi track will most likely be inaugurated by the end of this month or early March, first week of March, Visakhapatnam International Airport director M Raja Kishore said. After inauguration of the taxi track, proposals to increase slots for movement of aircraft at the airport will be sent to the operational wing for its clearance. There will be a rise in number of flights from the city. The summer schedule of flights will be released next month