Budget carrier SpiceJet on Wednesday launched 14 new cargo flights to and from North-Eastern India for facilitating exceptional connectivity with the rest of the country. The cargo flights are introduced to help transport fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, perishables, fish seeds, fresh fish, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, express cargo and other general cargo.
Besides, the freighter service is primed to give fillip to the growth of trade and commerce in the region by improving logistics and connectivity.
SpiceJet has launched 14 new cargo flights to and from North Eastern states using its Bombardier Q400 freighters, thereby ensuring seamless, uninterrupted connectivity with the rest of the country.
Speaking on the inaugural event, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal congratulated SpiceJet for the much-needed initiative that is going to provide a big push to traders and business houses in Assam and the entire region.
”Farmers from the region will now be able to transport their fresh farm produce across the country and internationally also. I would urge local businesses, traders, entrepreneurs to make use of this opportunity that provides us access to markets not only within India but across the globe.”
~Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam
Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet said, ”As the Hon’ble Prime Minister always say that North East has the potential to become India’s growth engine, we sincerely hope that our dedicated cargo flights will help significantly transform the region.”
As per reports, SpiceJet will operate daily cargo flights on Kolkata-Guwahati, Guwahati-Kolkata, Kolkata-Imphal and Imphal-Kolkata sectors. It has also introduced cargo flights between Kolkata and Guwahati via Aizawl and Dimapur which will operate twice-a-week.
As per reports, the airline is also expected to operate cargo flights on the Kolkata-Agartala and Agartala-Guwahati sectors thrice-a-week and twice-a-week on Kolkata-Silchar and Silchar-Guwahati routes.
While speaking through a video link, Singh shared that the service will carry both perishable and general cargo to 44 international destinations of the SpiceJet network.
The company said that it also operates a fleet of 13 cargo aircrafts, including two wide-body planes, and is the only Indian carrier to operate long-haul cargo flights to Europe, Africa and CIS countries.
The dedicated cargo flights for North East will enable transportation of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, perishables, fish seeds, fresh fish, express cargo and other general cargo.
“Besides improving logistics and connectivity, the new freighter service will boost the growth of trade in the North Eastern markets and help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.”
~Debojo Maharshi, SpiceJet Chief Marketing Officer
SpiceJet connects Guwahati with key cities across the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Amritsar, and has been transporting cargo both using the belly space of its passenger aircraft.
Ever since the nationwide lockdown began on March 25, the
airline said it has operated more than 7,000 cargo flights and transported over 50,000 tonne of cargo. Out of these flights, around 3,000 were to international destinations.
Spicejet also earned the title of being the first Indian airline to operate long-haul, non-stop cargo flight between Europe and India with the commencement of its first flight from Amsterdam to Mumbai using its wide-body aircraft – Airbus A340 recently.
