GACA demands increased usage of cargo facilities

According to Goa Air Cargo Association (GACA), existing infrastructure for cargo transportation at the airport is not used enough by local industry. And industry needs to step up. Senior members of GACA said that maximisation of Daboim as gateway to air cargo is necessary for the future development of Mopa as a cargo terminal. It will minimise transit period, lower cost of transportation and result in improved inventory for industry. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is currently expanding the international cargo complex at Dabolim by setting up of plugin facility. To encourage industry to increase usage of cargo facilities at Dabolim the GACA is planning on various trade promotion measures such as incentives, etc. The demand for better utilisation of cargo facilities at Dabolim was made at the Goa Air Cargo Meet 2016 held recently at Ravindra Bhavan, Vasco.

In the wake of recent trend in growth of volumes of perishables exports from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) organised a one day workshop on the ‘Roadmap for development of Perishables Ecosystem at RGIA’ at the Novotel Hotel, Hyderabad. After the numerous discussions with APEDA, MPEDA officials, exporters, importers, freight forwarders and airlines operating out of RGIA, it emerged that there was an immediate need of a dedicated perishables handling infrastructure to projected growth. cater to the

Sabyasachi Ghosh, IAS, Secretary Industries Telangana Government & Chairman Telangana State Food Processing Society and Dr WR Reddy, IAS, Director General National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj were the guests of honour. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, highlighted the importance of perishable cargo and role of Hyderabad Airport in meeting the burgeoning demand.

The workshop also focused on current infrastructure gaps in and around the airport and what needs to be done to plug the gap, skills set required in the perishables industry and what training needs to be provided. “GHIAL has been in the forefront of taking path-breaking initiatives with active feedback from the cargo trade to introduce new products that have been well appreciated by the cargo community,” said Kishore, in adding, “GHIAL introduced a dedicated Pharma handling facility – Pharma Zone – in 2010 that has become now the benchmark.”