FedEx is in talks with Indian carrier Jet Airways to create a joint cargo airline, according tounconfirmed media reports today. This would be the latest freight carrier launch in the
fast-growing Indian express and air cargo market.The two parties are in initial discussions to launch a dedicated cargo carrier, either as ajoint venture or in cooperation, Indian newspaper Mint reported, citing a consultant and unnamedJet Airways executives.
One Jet Airways executive said the airline is looking at domestic and international cargoservices and “it would be ideal to have a partner with a global reach”. Official spokespersons fromthe two companies said they were unaware of any cooperation talks.
FedEx has targeted India as a key growth market and recently introduced a domestic expressservice under the name FedEx India, offering a next-business-day delivery service for documents andgoods up to 32kg from 14 key cities to 50 major destinations across the country. However, it relieson airlift capacity from commercial airlines for the premium express service.
Privately-owned Jet Airways, which has outgrown Air India/Indian Airlines to become thelargest passenger airline in India, previously had plans to enter the cargo market in cooperationwith Lufthansa. These plans had to be postponed due to the economic recession, however. Jetoperates 89 passenger planes, including 10 B777s, 12 A330s and 48 B737s.
The Indian market has seen a number of projects for cargo airlines and several launches inrecent years in response to its fast growth but domestic air volumes remain relatively low andfilling the capacity on a regular basis has proven a challenge.
The established market leader is DHL Express subsidiary Blue Dart which runs an integratedexpress business including an in-house carrier, Blue Dart Aviation, with a fleet of sevenfreighters. Air India operates international freighter flights under its own name and also severaldomestic routes on behalf of India Post.
Major ground transport operator Gati launched a dedicated air express service using leasedAir India freighters but was forced to terminate it after heavy losses. First Flight also started asmall air operation using chartered planes several years ago.
More recently, entrepreneur G.R. Gopinath, founder of the country’s first low-cost passengerairline Air Deccan, created Deccan Cargo Express which operates air cargo flights and offers airexpress services under the Deccan 360 brand.
Just last week, Kingfisher Airlines, another major passenger airline, launched a cargoservice under the name Kingfisher Express, using belly capacity on its domestic flight network.
