Passenger rush to attend festivals puts a strain on India’s air cargo flows

Various Indian Hindu festivals run between September and November, with Diwali – the festival of lights — the biggest celebration, starting on 31 October.

Industry sources complain that the cargo capacity crunch is seriously impacting supply chains, especially time-sensitive or perishable cargo movements. “With the festive season in full swing, the surge in passenger air travel has put immense pressure on air cargo logistics players, particularly those relying on belly space to transport goods,” Hector Crasto, GM (international division) at Mumbai-based 3PL Patel Integrated Logistics, said. 

“Airlines are experiencing significant capacity pressures, both on domestic and international routes,” he noted, and explained that cargo volumes had seen strong surges in recent weeks, causing clearance delays of up to four days at major airports. Additionally, he said, air freight rates out of India for major international destinations had moved substantially higher – rising 23% to 65% to the US, Europe and Latin America.

“Increasing daily flights and [better] operational planning by airlines can be a saviour in this situation,” he added.

Ecommerce parcel deliveries, which generally see an uptick during this period, are also facing acute pressures due to airline capacity shortages and delays, sources said. According to anecdotal estimates, online marketplaces mopped up sales worth $6.5bn in their late-September “great Indian festival” campaigns, with Amazon grabbing the lion’s share. To mitigate the cargo delays, logistics stakeholders are exploring alternatives, including dedicated freighters and road haulers, which inevitably involves additional costs.

Vineet Malhotra, co-founder and director at Mumbai-based Kale Logistics Solutions, said delays were more pronounced at Delhi and Mumbai airports.

And an acceleration in Indian apparel flows, trade shifts from Bangladesh, is adding to the supply-demand imbalance. Indian ready-made garments (RMG) exports were up 17.3% year on year last month, according to the latest data. And that gain followed a reported 12% increase in August, indicating growth opportunities created by the trade disruption in Bangladesh.

“India’s RMG exports have recorded high growth despite global headwinds and continued inflationary pressure,” said Sudhir Sekhri, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council. “India being uniquely placed with low import intensity, existence of the entire ecosystem from fibre to fashion, both in cotton and MMF, [and an] abundant and young labour force, we can do much better.”

And Rakesh Mehra, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, also believes “this uptick has reflected the global demand for quality Indian products”. Indian air cargo volumes saw a 7% year-on-year increase in fiscal year 2023-24, according to data released by the Airports Authority of India.