News
Air India offers quicker cargo transfers to Europe via Delhi after successful proof of concept trial
August 24th 2026
Air India has reduced transit times for some international cargo via its Delhi hub from up to two days to as short as five hours after a successful proof of concept of the government-backed scheme. Read More » Over the 90-day trial, shipments on the Chennai-Delhi-Frankfurt were able to remain securely packed during transit, rather than requiring individual pieces to undergo re-screeding. The concept has now been rolled out to include eligible shipments from five cities in India - Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai - to Copenhagen, Frankfurt and London Heathrow, via Delhi. "By making cargo transfers faster and more efficient, it will help strengthen the competitiveness of Indian airports and support growth across the logistics value chain," Air India group head of governance, risk, compliance and corporate affairs, P. Balaji, said. The concept is expected to be rolled out to all domestic to international, international to domestic and international to international cargo movements in India, subject to regulatory approvals. "By enabling seamless cargo transfers through Delhi, it can help attract transit traffic that currently moves through foreign gateways, unlock additional cargo volumes for Air India, and significantly improve aircraft belly utilisation across our expanding network," Air India head of cargo, Ramesh Mamidala, said. "Delhi alone has the potential to attract more than 2 million metric tonnes of additional annual transshipment cargo across 95+ addressable international air cargo corridors."
