Speaking to Payload Asia, ACE chairman and managing director, Capt. Mukut Pathak, said the new carrier aims to be not only a leader in air cargo transportation in India, but also amajor operator internationally.

The company will launch its cargo services in the coming months, with four Airbus 310-300F and eventually add more Airbus 330-200F/MD11F to its fleet. ACE has already secured the necessary approvals from the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation and is now waiting for the remainder of its initial fleet of A310-300Fs.

While coming from an aviation background, but not specifically cargo, Pathak – who was part of the Kingfisher Airlines start-up team – said he and two other key backers have spend the better part of four years planning and preparing for this year’s launch.

Noting that there are a number of models from which to base a cargo business, including charter ACMI business, integrated carrier business like Deccan 360, and also airport to airport. “To keep the risks low we decided to adopt the airport-to-airport. This allows us to go in lean and keep costs under control. That is one strong point in meeting competition.

“But at some point in time in future the yields will come under pressure whenwe bring on the bigger aircraft and at that point of time we will have to look atbecoming an integrated carrier. We planto do that through inorganic growth. Wewill look to acquire some players in themarket to acquire first- and last-mileconnectivity.” This will occur within twoto three years, Pathak added.

Three phase plan
But first, ACE has to get off the ground. The first phase will see an ambitious start with ACE connecting the Indian market to Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, CIS and Europe. This includes an international route plan with connectivity extending to 150 countries worldwide, via strategic tie-ups with other carriers and an extensive GSSA network.

In the first phase three main hubs at Delhi, Sharjah and Bangkok will feed ACE’s network. In the Middle East, ACE has tied-up with Air Arabia which will extend its cargo reach across the region. This will be followed by the establishement of three European hubs in Stansted, Brussels and Milan that together with trucking options, will cover all of Europe, according to Pathak.

In the second phase, connectivity will extend to the Far East, North Africa and Australia-New Zealand. During this phase ACE will provide inter-regional and intra-regional connectivity within these markets. To accomplish this ACE has forged strategic tie-ups with Kenya Airways to cover the African continent and Qantas to cover the Australia/New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets.

In the third phase, connectivity will extend to the American continent, where ACE has signed up Global Air Cargo, a GSSA covering North and South America.

It is during this phase that Pathak sees the carrier maturing into “a true global cargo carrier, providing connectivity not only within its own markets but also providing connectivity to other small regional cargo carriers.”

ACE recently inked a contract with India-based IBS Software for cargo solution, iCargo. The solution will automate the entire cargo operations of ACE, adding to IBS’ list of customers, the likes of which include: All Nippon Airways, Qantas Freight, Austrian Airlines, SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines.