Thai Airways International this week inaugurated cargo services to Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). The airline is serving the Indian destination as a stop on its Bangkok - Frankfurt route and will enable new faster freight connections from the city to both the Far East and Europe. The first flight, operated using a Boeing 747-400, arrived at RGIA on the morning of April 13 where it received a commemorative water canon salute from the Airport Fire Service.
The dedicated freighter service will considerably increase cargo options from Hyderabad. Thai Airways International already handles a large amount of belly freight on its four weekly Airbus A330 passenger flights from Bangkok, but will now also offer enhanced connectivity in Europe. The airline says it expects to carry a range of products on the new route including pharmaceuticals, electronic components, fresh fruits, flowers and clothing.
"With commencing operations by the world’s leading cargo airline like Thai, stands testimony to the world class facilities and immense potential waiting to be tapped at RGIA. We are glad to partner with Thai Airways which is a leader in transport of air cargo," explained Vikram Jaisinghani, Chief Executive Officer of GMR Hyderabad Airport International (GHIAL) at the official launch of the new route. "India, and in particular Hyderabad, is fast emerging as an important pharmaceutical manufacturing center with 70 per cent of the exports coming from Hyderabad alone. Thai Airways expertise, connectivity and the modern infrastructure at Hyderabad Airport will enable us to offer our customers the best and most reliable infrastructure facility for air cargo transport in South Asia."
Hyderabad’s Cargo Terminal is India’ first modular integrated Cargo facility spread over 14,330 square metres and with the capacity to handle 150,000 MT annually. This terminal also has India’s only dedicated pharmaceutical handling zone “The Pharma Zone” which offers a temperature controlled environment for handling temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products to maintain the cold chain during the shipment movement process from shipper factories to the end user. While air freight volumes in India have grown by an 11.2 per cent this past year, Hyderabad recorded a 15 per cent growth in the last financial year, handling 82,000 tonnes of freight.
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