Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is India’s top-tier cargo hub and has been integral to the country’s air freight movement. In the 3rd quarter of 2021 (Jul-Sept), the airport facilitated ~1,90,000 tonnes of cargo air freight that encompassed essential as well as non-essential goods. CSMIA has also made enormous contribution towards transportation of COVID related relief and supplies.
Generic Cargo
- Approximately 62,764 tonnes of cargo was processed in July and 64,600 tonnes of cargo was processed in September.
- Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish airlines carried 15,871, 14,149 and 9,255 tonnages respectively, which was the highest on international routes.
- IndiGo saw the highest tonnage of 14,191 MT followed by Blue Dart and Air India with 13,230 and 10,291 tonnages respectively on domestic front.
- Automotive parts were seen to be the highest transported goods contributing 24% to the overall general cargo, followed by pharmaceutical goods at 20% and Electricals/ Electronics at 9% among others like Engineering Goods, Agro Products/Perishables, Chemicals, Garments, Dangerous Goods and Live animals.
Medical Cargo
The global demand for critical medicines and equipment continues to surge as an after-effect of the pandemic and pharmaceuticals contributed around 20% towards the air cargo. The airport has achieved an exemplary overall processing time of 25 minutes in international exports, and 12 minutes in domestic exports, including offloading and storage.
- CSMIA has exported over 184 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines weighing over 9,562 tons to countries across the globe and has processed over 27,459 tonnes of COVID relief supplies and medical cargo.
- During the second wave of the ongoing pandemic, CSMIA facilitated the arrival of over 5,243 tonnes of medicines and over 2,650 tonnes of medical equipment while also supporting countries across the globe with over 17,326 tonnes of medicines and vaccines with over 1,545 tonnage approximately in this period.
CSMIA handles ~4,50,000 MT cargo per annum and 900 tonnes per day and the airport houses an Export Cold Zone (ECZ) that has a separate terminal for pharma cargo handling with dedicated infrastructure.
The standard practices adopted by CSMIA have led to a seamless cargo transit for the consignees and will further act as an impetus for the robust growth of the express courier market in a post pandemic economy.
