Freight movement at the Tiruchi international airport touched an all-time high in August this year, clocking 809 tonnes. This is the first time since the commissioning of the international air cargo terminal in 2011 at the Tiruchi airport that overseas cargo movement had exceeded 800 metric tonnes in a month.
The international cargo movement used to be from 550 tonnes to 650 tonnes per month on an average. However, it touched 809 tonnes in August recording an all-time high, said an airport official.
Usually there is an escalation in overseas freight movements in August – September due to festival season.
But this time around, the freight movement exceeded 800 tonnes in August alone, said the official.
It was equally robust in the month of July when overseas cargo movements clocked 736 tonnes.
Perishables such as vegetables, fruits and flowers continue to occupy the bulk of cargo exported from Tiruchi to various overseas destinations with no change in commodity profile over the years. Much of the overseas cargo dispatched from here flies to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Male, Sharjah, Dubai and to certain other West Asian destinations.
Since Tiruchi is surrounded by agrarian districts, the movement of perishables account for majority of the shipment, said the official adding that export cargo was about 25 tonnes on an average daily.
In the absence of dedicated cargo freighters, overseas cargo is dispatched on board the daily international passenger flights such as Air India Express, Air Asia, Sri Lankan Airlines and Scoot.
Airport Authority of India statistics reveal that the international freight movements in the current fiscal from April to August was 3,462 tonnes at Tiruchi airport.
This was more than the corresponding period during the previous financial year when it was 2,671 tonnes.
The official said the internal target set for Tiruchi airport in respect of international freight movement was 7,500 tonnes in 2019-20 fiscal.
