BHOPAL: With a slight change in policy and changing priorities of the state government, Bhopal is all set to have an air cargo terminal within a month. Administration in Bhopal is focusing more on increasing cargo facilities with passengers.
The old building of the Raja Bhoj airport will be used as the cargo terminal. About 17 acres of land has been sanctioned near the airport which will be used to develop air cargo hub in Bhopal. Development work of Bhopal airport’s cargo hub has progressed to around 75 percent and is most likely to be inaugurated within a month.
Though Old building of Raja Bhoj airport to be used as cargo terminal
“Finishing works like installation of CCTV cameras and security arrangements are being done. Cargo handling facilities like trolleys etc are being arranged,” said Bhopal airport director Anil Vikram.
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport, Indore has already an established cargo hub and now the state capital is all set to get a new facility. Indore airport is also to get a dedicated cold storage facility with capacity of 15 tons very soon.
DGCA’s latest data shows that the airport handled total 1661 MT (metric tons) freight in year 2018-2019 compared to 1057 MT in 2017-2018, recording 57% growth.
In February, this year, Raja Bhoj airport handled 111 MT cargo against 91 MT during the same period last year. The data also suggests that the cargo operations at the airport increased to 1302 MT during April to September last year.
In September 2018, airport’s freight operations rose by 21.7% to record 219MT from 180 MT during same period in previous year. Similarly, last year in October 2018, the cargo business jumped to 192MT from 118MT in the same month 2017. Frequent flyers said Bhopal airport has started making its presence felt at the national level.
Expected tonnage from Bhopal:
Domestic:
Consignments per
month- 82 to 5746
Approx capacity in kg per month- 3950 to 30910
International:
Consignments per
month- 79 to 101
Approx capacity in kg per month- 37018 to 221268
