The cargo division of the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) handled 25,500 tonnes of cargo, mostly perishables like fruits and vegetables, till the end of October.
The daily average international export alone between March and October was more than 125 tonnes, even as the Civil Aviation Ministry has curtailed dedicated cargo flights through airports other than the six designated ones from October 1.
Since then, air export of perishable items has been adversely affected. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation restrictions are on operation of foreign ad hoc and purely chartered, non-scheduled freight services. As a result, there are no airports in Kerala now being permitted to handle special cargo flights or ad hoc flights. The special cargo flight services are available from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
Restrictions on movement have resulted in a big fall in cargo volume in October. CIAL had handled 3,409 tonnes of international cargo in September 2020, but in October, the volume plunged to 2,331 tonnes, airport sources said.
Around 18,553 tonnes of export cargo and 2,278 tonnes of import were handled in the international sector, while the volume of domestic cargo handled by the air cargo division was 900 tonnes in the export section and 3,767 tonnes in the import section.
The largest number of cargo flights were operated by Indigo and SpiceJet. Major commodities carried by the flights were fish seed, meat, and mobile phone sets. In the international sector, Emirates accounted for the largest volume of export cargo.
The continuing restrictions on dedicated cargo flights from Kochi means that the volume has come down significantly from the pre-COVID 19 of 100 to 150 tonnes per day. Air cargo movement from Kochi is now being taken care of by passenger flights, but they carry only up to 15 tonnes, while special flights carry up to 50 tonnes.
The restrictions mean that exporters of even perishables are now forced to move their cargo to the nearest dedicated centres like Chennai and Bengaluru.
