SpiceJet to start air cargo service

SpiceJet Ltd will start a dedicated air cargo service from September 18 as the budget airline seeks to capitalize on the boom in online retail in the country.

The company has inducted its first freighter aircraft—a Boeing 737-700—and has also prepared a blueprint to grow its logistics business, covering both domestic and international routes, it said in a statement on Monday.

SpiceJet plans to gradually expand its cargo operations comprising about 500 tonnes a day from its existing fleet of passenger planes to 900 tonnes a day.

It aims to increase its fleet of freighter planes to four by March next year.

SpiceJet will begin cargo operations under the SpiceXpress brand from Delhi, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Hong Kong, Kabul and Amritsar.

“This is an extension of our ‘belly cargo’ service to a ‘dedicated freighter’ with Boeing 737 aircraft. We are very excited about the tremendous potential the logistics industry offers,” said SpiceJet’s chairman and managing director Ajay Singh.

He said there is a huge untapped market for air cargo services in India.

“Freighter aircraft will be acquired on pure operating leases and haven’t incurred any major capital expenditure, while the ground operations will be either self-handled by the existing SpiceJet ground infrastructure or shall be outsourced till we develop a certain scale of operations,” Singh said, according to the statement.

SpiceJet currently offers cargo capacity on its passenger aircraft connecting 47 domestic and seven international destinations. It plans to grow its network to 150 destinations across India, rest of Asia and Europe by 2022. The company said air cargo traffic in India is expected to grow 60% over the next five years.

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