India’s Jet Freight Logistics eyes own cargo airline

Indian freight-forwarding specialist Jet Freight Logistics is planning to establish its own in-house cargo airline to help ramp up capacity in the Indian international freight market.

Speaking to Indian Transport & Logistics News, JFL’s chairman and managing director, Richard Theknath, said the scarcity of bellyhold cargo space, thanks to a decline in international passenger traffic, had precipitated the need for its own airline. In particular, he highlighted growing demand for agricultural exports for which JFL is India’s market leader in terms of export capacity.

“In the next four to six months is what we’re looking at,” he said referencing the time frame for the airline’s establishment. “Our plans have been pushed forward because there’s a new [Covid] variant. There are a couple of licenses, permissions and all that they’re getting a bit difficult to obtain. The biggest routes for us would be the US, Europe, UK, the UAE, some points in the Far East, China, Hong Kong, and Africa.”

Operationally, the still unnamed carrier will target B777s and B747s, Theknath said.

JFL is one of India’s three largest air freight forwarding firms, in terms of air international exports. It has close relationships with Air India, Emirates, and other airlines and is present in 12 cities across India as well as in the UAE, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and soon, the United States.

Despite its size, India’s air cargo market is home to only one dedicated freight specialist – Blue Dart Aviation (BZ, Chennai) – although SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) has its SpiceXpress division which uses B737 freighters and IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi Int’l) which is also planning to add its first A321-200(P2F)s shortly.