Non-scheduled cargo operator Pradhaan Air Express is looking to expand its freighter fleet to eight planes by 2028, including four wide-body planes as it looks to tap the vast potential in this segment.
At present none of the Indian air cargo carriers have a wide-body aircraft in their fleet.
The Delhi-based cargo airline, which commenced its services last year currently has one narrow-body converted freighter in its fleet.
“Will eventually fly four narrow-body and four wide-body aircraft,” Pradhaan Air's Chief Business Officer Vipul Bhalla told CNBC-TV18 at the sidelines of the Air Cargo Forum’s (ACFI) 2023 conclave.
Bhalla said that Pradhaan Air will add another narrow-body in the next few months and add two more A321s by 2024.
“The first of the four wide-body A330 aircraft will arrive in 2025,” Bhalla said.
He added that the airline will take these aircraft on lease as new orders are taking a long time for delivery due to supply-chain issues.
Currently India has only five dedicated air cargo operators including Blue Dart that has six planes, SpiceXpress has three planes followed by IndiGo Cargo and Quickjet both having two aircraft each.
What gives Pradhaan Air the confidence?
“We can’t wait for rise in demand to create capacity because we don’t want to be in a situation where demand picks up and we don’t have planes,” Bhalla said.
There is certainly a huge scope in India's international air cargo that’s currently dominated by dedicated foreign freighter airlines. Among Indian airlines, only Air India and Vistara can carry cargo in the aircraft belly to Europe and US destinations.
So, Pradhaan Air’s expected induction of wide-body fleet is aimed at taking a bite of the growing international air cargo market.
