Air cargo business linked to e-commerce is growing rapidly in India and is expected to grow at a much faster rate in the coming years as an increasing number of Indians are making online purchases, according to industry experts.
Chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and chief cargo officer of Swiss International Air Lines, Oliver Evans, said during a panel discussion on air cargo in Mumbai, that the e-commerce segment has huge potential.
"As shopping on the Internet expands, it will speed up demand and that will contribute towards positive movements in the air cargo business," Mr Evans was quoted as saying in a report by the Hyderabad Deccan Chronicle.
Data compiled by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) show that as of December 2013, the e-commerce industry was pegged at INR629,670 million and is seeing healthy double-digit growth every month.
As the e-commerce business grows at almost 30 per cent year on year, its share in the overall domestic cargo business is also rising.
"We have seen an overall negative trend at about minus five per cent in the first six months of last year but it just bounced back. There was an overall growth of 10 per cent in the last calendar year," said chief commercial officer (aero), Delhi Indira Gandhi Internal Airport, Pradeep Panicker, on the sidelines of Air Cargo India 2014.
"All put together we handled a total of 200,000 tonne cargo last year in domestic cargo and that growth primarily has come from the e-commerce segment.
"So going forward, in 2014 and 2015, the overall growth coming from the e-commerce segment will be close to 30 per cent."
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