International air cargo volumes out of India were estimated to have surged 19% year on year in 2024, beating the global and Asia-Pacific average growth rates for the year, according to provisional data.
Yearly growth in overall tonnage at Indian airports was 14%, with domestic flows up between 6% and 8%, while Rotate pointed to an 8% bump in capacity over the year.
The record growth, according to industry experts, was in large part driven by ecommerce, pharmaceutical, and perishables, while sources also believe infrastructure improvements and airline network expansions had aided the market boom.
Mumbai (CSIMA) and Bengaluru (BLR) airports led the growth, boosting international volumes 17% and 23%, respectively, against a 7% and 14% capacity increase, according to Rotate’s Live Capacity Database, which also noted a 7.7% capacity jump at Delhi and an 18.2% increase at Hyderabad.
“The festive season further amplified the e-commerce boom,” said CSIMA “Agricultural exports also reached new heights, with mango shipments hitting approximately 4,700 tonnes,” it added.
BLR claimed it continued to be the busiest perishables handler for the third year, representing some 30% of India’s cold chain trade and 45% of the southern India market in that segment.
The upcoming opening of Navi Mumbai International Airport, scheduled for early April, is expected to refuel the pace of cargo flow as Mumbai has been grappling with significant capacity strains for years.
Industry stakeholders are upbeat about the demand upswing and the other on-ground developments under way and in the planning stages.
Cargo executives at IndiGo and Air India, India’s top private airlines, recently said they had new capacity plans and commercial strategies to capitalise on the wave of growth opportunities emerging in the market.
IndiGo reported a record monthly cargo lift of some 37,000 tonnes in October, and its CarGo COO, Mark Sutch, said the carrier was looking to build on that momentum into 2025.
Both carriers already have massive fleet expansions in the works, Air India’s 100-aircraft order with Airbus last month, the latest capacity push.
“We anticipate that fleet developments will bolster the overall efficiency of air cargo logistics, further fuelling economic growth,” Mahesh Fogla, executive director at Mumbai-based 3PL Patel Integrated Logistics, said.
And Vineet Malhotra, co-founder and director at Mumbai-based Kale Logistics Solutions, said: “This expansion is being fuelled by a rising number of airports, government-led initiatives such as dedicated cargo terminals and multimodal connectivity corridors, as well as a booming ecommerce sector.”
But he said the industry still needed do more to tap into its full potential, though the direction of higher growth indicators was clearly setting in.
A resurgent demand boost for India-made apparel products, in the wake of supply chain disruption in Bangladesh, seems to be another sweetener for the industry, as recent figures released by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) indicate, which included a 13% year-on-year increase in December.
“The long-term outlook for Indian apparel exports remains positive, largely on account of improved product acceptance, adaptability to changing consumer trends, focus of factories on compliance, and industry-friendly government policies,” said AEPC chairman Sudhir Sekhri.
