City airport to resume outbound cargo services

The operations were suspended on January 1, 2023, owing to non-compliance with the new security concept introduced by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

BCAS had introduced the concept of ‘regulated agent’, wherein the airport operator had to make necessary arrangements to render all cargo-related services as a single agency, including screening of cargo, which was earlier done by the airline concerned.

City airport director S Senthil Valavan said, “Because of the shortage of certified security screeners in the open market, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) could not engage the screeners on time. Hence, outbound domestic cargo operations from a few airports, including the one in Coimbatore, were suspended.”

The suspension of outbound domestic cargo operations had hit the industries in the region very hard and they had a tough time fulfilling their committed business dealings on time. The city airport, along with airlines and other associated agencies into cargo business, also suffered a huge revenue loss, as the aircrafts were flown from the city airport without the belly cargo load.

“In order to mitigate the crisis, BCAS had earlier permitted Indigo Airline to handle outbound domestic cargo from the city airport, as it operates the highest number of aircraft from the city. It was allowed to handle the cargo by itself,” the officer said. Now that sufficient screeners and other required infrastructure for providing ‘regulated agent’ services are in place, BCAS has granted approval to resume the domestic outbound cargo activities, he said.

“The entire domestic outbound cargo activities will be handled by AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company, a 100% subsidiary of AAI. Now, all the domestic airlines operating from the city airport could handle outbound domestic cargo from July 16.”

With Air India and Air Vistara providing services to Delhi and Bombay sectors, the airport director said, local trade would have more booking space on these prime sectors with competitive rates for their cargo.