Those dependent on airports for outbound domestic cargo services breathed a sigh of relief as the authorities on Saturday (April 1) issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) permitting a single private operator, IndiGo, to take up self-handling outbound cargo services at 12 airports in the country, including three in Andhra Pradesh – Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Vijayawada.
The outbound domestic cargo services were cancelled since January this year due to shortage of certified screeners following the instructions from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The BCAS found that security services were not up to standards at the airports.
All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association Vizag Regional Chapter president Dasari Srinivas said that they were relieved after the authorities gave permission to transport the sensitive cargo (products) like the live shrimp under self-handling system.
“Ours is a seasonal business from January to September. We cannot rely on any mode of transportation other than airplanes for our products. The live shrimp must be shipped to consumers within hours. On Saturday, we have sent our products through IndiGo at the Visakhapatnam airport to Kolkata. We daily send about four quintals (or 200 boxes) of live shrimp to Gujarat, West Bengal and Odisha. A total of 325 hatcheries, including 25 from Visakhapatnam and 300 from Kakinada regions, depend on the Visakhapatnam airport for shrimp business,” Mr. Srinivas said.
With the request from Visakhapatnam MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana and others, the airport authorities have given some temporary relief, Mr. Srinivas added.
In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on March 31, the Visakhapatnam MP stated, “There is not enough staff and equipment in the cargo department at the Visakhapatnam airport. As India’s ninth largest city by GDP and home to a large number of pharma, textiles, food, multiproduct SEZs, there is a need for effective screening equipment at the airport.”
When contacted, the Visakhapatnam Airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao said, “Yes, outbound self-handling cargo services have been allowed through the IndiGo flight at the airport. It will be a temporary relief to the service beneficiaries.”
