Tiruchi Airport has been the scene of brisk freight exports to select overseas destinations, in a way despite the pandemic. The export cargo was shipped through non-scheduled flights operated by the Air India Express under the Vande Bharat Mission and other flights under the Air Bubble agreement, as well as by a couple of other carriers in the last one year.
Some 3,300 tons of freight had been exported from the airport from May 2020 to May 2021, to different destinations in South East Asia and West Asia. The bulk of the cargo was being lifted by the Air India Express. Perishables such as vegetables, fruits, flowers were the commodities which were exported from there to Singapore, Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Male.
With outgoing international passenger movement from Tiruchi airport during the pandemic period being less, export cargo was being easily accommodated in the overseas flights that departed from Tiruchi. On an average, about 10 tons of export cargo was being handled at the airport a day.
“[The] export of freight has remained brisk,” Airport Director, Tiruchi S. Dharmaraj told thehindu.com. After Chennai, Tiruchi airport’s performance in respect of movement of export cargo was good.
Photo source: En.wikipedia.org
