FedEx will increase flights to India in response to growing demand as the country’s air express andcargo markets take off, a senior executive said.
The US integrator expects manufacturing industries such as cars, telecoms and pharmaceuticalsto grow in India, foresees rising demand for consumer goods, and believes that improved transportinfrastructure will boost the express sector, Michael Mühlberger, FedEx vice president operationsCentral and Eastern Europe, told the Air Cargo Europe conference at the Transport Logistic fair inMunich this week.
“If there is demand, we will put in international flights,” he declared. FedEx currentlyoperates 16 weekly international flights through its two gateways of Mumbai and Delhi, and recentlyentered the domestic air express market by buying service partner Pafex.
Mühlberger pointed out that poor road connections were playing a role in driving the domesticair express market, but even as road infrastructure improved, air express flights would remainnecessary to the distances between the sub-continent’s economic centres.
Ram Menen, head of Emirates Cargo, told the conference that Dubai and Singapore wouldcontinue to act as air cargo gateways to India in the future with multiple services to Indiancities due to the poor condition and insufficient capacity of the country’s road and airinfrastructure. The $14 billion Indian logistics market is growing at about 7% a year, and hadexcellent 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 werethe main air cargo import and export destinations for India. The Indian domestic air cargo marketwould grow at about 9% a year over the next 20 years, he predicted.
