IndiGo: Improved Road Infrastructure Will Challenge the Domestic Air Cargo Segment

IndiGo is the largest airline in India in terms of both fleet and network. Along with passengers, the airline transports cargo across the country utilizing the aircraft’s belly cargo space. During the pandemic, when cargo demand arose like Godzilla, the airline under the leadership of CEO Ronojoy Dutta ordered four dedicated Airbus A321P2Fs. It is yet to receive the delivery of the final freighter.

Now, a senior IndiGo executive believes that the improvement in the road infrastructure in the country will be challenging for the domestic air cargo segment.

IndiGo: Road Infra Will Challenge Domestic Air Cargo

Mark Sutch is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of IndiGo CarGo. He joined IndiGo in March 2023 to handle international cargo operations. At that time, IndiGo had two separate CCOs for IndiGo CarGo, with Sutch handling the international market and Mahesh Malik managing the domestic one. In November 2023, Malik resigned after which, Sutch became the sole CCO for IndiGo CarGo.

Sutch believes that the improved road infrastructure of India will pose a significant challenge to the domestic air cargo industry. He said that moving cargo via roadways is cost-effective and time-efficient.

Sutch cited the example of the Delhi to Mumbai route, the busiest sector for IndiGo with 280 weekly flights. He said that in the near future, the road infrastructure between these cities will be so efficient that the transport duration will come down.

The airline has very quickly expanded its presence in the domestic market to 2000 daily flights. Because of this, only 60% of the cargo capacity is being used. He added that the airline is exploring if it can add more affordable cargo on these low-demand routes. In 2023, IndiGo ferried 2,61,852 tonnes of freight domestically, registering an 11.42% annual growth.

What are the Solutions?

The road infrastructure in India is improving rapidly with the construction of 36.5 kilometers of road per day. This will challenge the domestic air cargo industry. To solve this problem of domestic air cargo, we cannot stop improving the road infra.

To be honest, there is no direct solution to this problem. The derivative of the solution lies in improving the infrastructure at airports. Even Sutch said that whenever he went to an Indian airport, he saw huge improvements in the passenger side. But the cargo side has seen little change. There are a lot of space-related issues, which should be looked upon.

Another solution is that airlines can deploy their dedicated freighters with more cargo capacity on international routes. Similar to how IndiGo is operating its three A321P2Fs on routes connecting India to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China.

Conclusion

IndiGo CarGo CCO Mark Sutch believes that the improved road infrastructure will impact the domestic air cargo sector of the country. He said that IndiGo is currently using only 60% of its cargo capacity because of its rapid expansion. It has a fleet of 3 dedicated freighters which are majorly operated internationally to the Gulf, Southeast Asia, and China.

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