World-class cargo facilities at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has opened up opportunities for large-bodied freighter planes with the first two air charters-Boeing 747-200 freighter and Boeing 747-400F-landing at the airport recently. MK Airlines’ charter flight on behalf of Lufthansa Charter and FedEx’s charter plane to pick-up cargo at RGIA both occurred in early September.

“These flights mark the first step in GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd’s (GHIAL’s) endeavour to make RGIA a truly world-class cargo hub in this part of the country,” GHIAL Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Viswanath Attaluri said.

“Being at the geographical centre of India, Hyderabad offers a great advantage for logistics movements of cargo both within India and connecting South East Asia and Middle East, Europe and USA,” Viswanath Attaluri added.

In addition to the general cargo, there has been a spurt in the export and import cargo handling at the RGIA since the airport commenced commercial operations in March this year. This has become possible due to the aggressive marketing efforts of both GHIAL and Hyderabad Menzles Air Cargo P Ltd to develop the charter cargo to achieve their goal of increasing the tonnage throughout of the terminal.

The Air Cargo Complex at the RGIA currently has a capacity to handle 100,000 tonnes per annum of cargo. The ultimate cargo handling capacity will be 1.3 million tonnes per annum. The RGIA has dedicated cargo apron facilities both for handling regular and freighter operations with four code ‘C’ freighter aircraft. Th e RGIA, Hyderabad is centrally located with two hours’ flying time from all major cities in India and 3 – 5 hours’ from all Southeast Asian countries.