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In present times, airports have a critical role to play in the promoting economic activity of a state. When it comes to supply chain and logistics operations, they provide the necessary infrastructure, connectivity, and services required to move goods and products efficiently and reliably. In this article, we will explore various aspects of Mumbai’s CSMIA’s cargo operations, and how it is helping Maharashtra go places.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, is the second-largest airport in India in terms of cargo volumes. Over the years, CSMIA has evolved its cargo handling capabilities, and has maintained its position as one of the efficient cargo handling terminals in the world with the highest throughput per sqm.
Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the custodian of CSMIA’s cargo terminals, has brought significant developments in infrastructure, improvements in process and efficiency with an endeavor of benchmarking CSMIA’s cargo facilities and services with the global standards.
Their efforts to offer a wonderful, world class experience to their customers continue with the instigation of the proposed Cargo Master Plan which includes state-of-the-art projects and high-level automation.
Cargo Volumes Handled by CSMIA
According to a CSMIA spokesperson, the airport handled its highest cargo volume in FY19. However, due to the COVID-19, the volumes registered a drop in FY20 and FY21. Despite airline capacity constraints and global tensions, cargo volumes have shown improvement in FY22 and FY23. This improvement can be attributed to the transport of COVID-19 lifesaving equipment, medicines, COVID vaccines, other pharmaceuticals, perishables, and automobile goods. CSMIA has processed about 25,000 MT of COVID supplies and 429 million doses of COVID vaccines in the last three years. As of FY23, the volumes have reached 87% of pre-COVID levels.
While pharma contributes 21% to the cargo processed and handled by CSMIA, other key industries that rely on airport cargo services are the automobile and agro industries, which contribute to 25% and 10% of the total volumes, respectively. Considering the high volumes of perishables and pharma it handles, the airport commissioned a state-of-the-art export cold zone in FY20 with separate facilities for export pharma and agro excellence centers. The airport has also processed more than 600 cars in the last three years.
CSMIA has adequate infrastructure for the processing of export and import cargo. The current utilization of the international cargo facility is around 55%. The existing infrastructure can cater to the growing cargo volumes for the next 10 years.
This is an abridged version of the article that was published in the May issue of Logistics Insider magazine. To read the complete article, click here.
