Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB/BLR Airport) played a key role during the Covid-19 pandemic by facilitating shipment of over 71,406 tonnes of cargo, including 6,194 tonnes of perishables and 2,300 tonnes of pharma supplies between April and July 2020.
During this period, BLR Airport’s Cargo market share rose to 15.3 percent from 11.2 percent.
While international cargo throughput was 51,728 tonnes, domestic was 19,678 tonnes during this period. Of this, perishables, including 507 tonnes of mangos, were delivered to 31 international destinations. Apart from perishables and pharma, the other freight processed during this period included electronic and engineering equipment, spares and ready-made garments.
Before the pandemic, BLR Airport’s cargo volumes were distributed between Freighter and Passenger aircraft in a 40:60 ratio. However, the lockdown and subsequent restrictions on international scheduled passenger flights, impacted cargo movements.
Several airlines commenced ‘cargo-only’ flights using passenger aircraft to bolster depressed global airfreight capacity and drive a spike in cargo demand.
About 40 percent of BLR Airport’s cargo during the period Apr – Jul 2020, was transported by Passenger-to-Cargo (PTC: Passenger flights ferrying cargo) aircraft. As a result, BLR Airport recorded more than 2,990 Cargo ATMs, registering a 79 per cent growth over the same period last year.
In addition, BLR Airport processed 341 tonnes of Covid-19-related cargo from March to July.
Highlights
Oman Air set a new record by lifting 49,593 kgs of perishable cargo from BLR Airport in June. This is the highest ever PTC uplift on an A330-300 single aircraft for both Oman Air as well as BLR Airport. The uplift included vegetables, hatching eggs, fruits and other perishables.
Emirates SkyCargo created a record, lifting 73,928 kgs on a Boeing 777-300ER Passenger to Cargo (P2C) aircraft at BLR Airport; this was a record across its network. The consignment included pharmaceuticals, garments and machinery
DHL handled its highest tonnage of 1,461 tonnes in June and FedEx 1,385 tonnes. .
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