Lufthansa Cargo on Wednesday certified GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL) to be one of its key cargo hubs in South Asia for transport of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, making the airport India's first airport to enjoy such a status.
Addressing a press conference here after handing over the certificate, Christopher Dehio, senior manager, global key accounts, Lufthansa Cargo, said the airline would operate three wide-bodied freighters a week to Hyderabad. India was a key market and fast catching up in the cargo business. While textiles used to be the main export items earlier, half of the cargo carried by its freighters now consisted of pharma products, auto components and electronic goods. While the air cargo growth in Asia was 40 per cent between 2008 and 2010, it was as high as 169 per cent in India during that period, he said.
The dedicated pharma zone at Hyderabad airport, which became operational in January, can provide temperature-controlled handling for more than 30,000 tonnes of pharma products annually. The zone will have officials from the drug controller's office and the customs department. Lufthansa Cargo will provide the capacity for transport of temperature-sensitive cargo. The company will station its own fleet of cooling containers called, Opti-Coolers, at GHIAL.
Meanwhile GHIAL, after achieving a breakeven last year, is expecting to make a profit this year, according to GHIAL CEO Vikram Jaisinghani.
With the airport recording a 17 per cent growth in passenger traffic last year and around 20 per cent in cargo for the past three years, he said the focus was to make GHIAL regional gateway for South and Central India. Stating that 20 per cent growth in cargo was the highest for any airport in the country, he expressed confidence of sustaining the trend this year too.
As regards passenger traffic which was of the order of 7.6 million last year, he said 17 per cent growth was ‘reachable' this year, although it was ‘aggressive'.
GHIAL is now handling around 80,000 tonnes of cargo a year, including exports and imports.
Hemanth D. P., Chief Operating Officer, GHIAL, said that with Hyderabad being strategically located, GHIAL was marketing it for inbound and out-bound destinations.
