FedEx plans to add more India flights

FedEx will increase flights to India in response to growing demand as the country’s air express and cargo markets take off, a senior executive said.

The US integrator expects manufacturing industries such as cars, telecoms and pharmaceuticals to grow in India, foresees rising demand for consumer goods, and believes that improved transport infrastructure will boost the express sector, Michael Mühlberger, FedEx vice president operations Central and Eastern Europe, told the Air Cargo Europe conference at the Transport Logistic fair in Munich this week.

Mühlberger pointed out that poor road connections were playing a role in driving the domestic air express market, but even as road infrastructure improved, air express flights would remain necessary to the distances between the sub-continent’s economic centres.

Ram Menen, head of Emirates Cargo, told the conference that Dubai and Singapore would continue to act as air cargo gateways to India in the future with multiple services to Indian cities due to the poor condition and insufficient capacity of the country’s road and air infrastructure. The USD 14 billion Indian logistics market is growing at about 7% a year, and had excellent growth prospects due to the country’s strong economic growth and demographic structure, he added.

Tom Hoang, Boeing regional director, said that Europe, the Far East and the Middle East were the main air cargo import and export destinations for India. The Indian domestic air cargo market would grow at about 9% a year over the next 20 years, he predicted.