India Post to launch air-courier service in north east
24 Aug 2007
Mumbai: State-run India Post has inducted its own freighter aircraft leased from domestic carrier Indian airlines for carriage of mail, parcel and logistics to the north east amidst increased competition from private courier companies.
"In order to improve its mail delivery and transmission services in north east, department of post has inducted a dedicated freighter aircraft for servicing the north east," I M G Khan, postal secretary said.
Aviation minister Praful Patel and communications minister A Raja will flag off the commercial service from Kolkata on August 29.
Except Blue Dart and First Flight Courier, no other domestic logistics provider owns aircraft and none of them operate in North- East. While Blue Dart operates in metros and Ahmedabad, First Flight operates in smaller cities.
Department of posts has spent Rs12 crore, including the lease amount and alterations to the Indian Boeing 737-200, to take on the new role of a freighter dedicated aircraft capable of carrying 15 tonnes at a time.
Kolkata would be the regional hub for the freighter operations and the service will operate on Kolkata- Guwahati- Imphal- Agartala route on a regular basis.