Air India to hive off cargo business by April 1

National air carrier Air India today said that it plans to hive off its cargo business into a autonomous unit by April 1.

"We plan to hive off our cargo business into an independent, autonomous business unit within NACIL from April 1," Air India Cargo SBU Head Anita Khurana told reporters here.

The hived off unit will cater to the cargo market needs, Khurana said. "We are working out some joint points with our own sales team, staff and balance sheet," he said.

NACIL is the holding company of Air India and the erstwhile Indian Airlines.

Air India Cargo contributes around 8 per cent to the total revenues of Air India currently. The newly carved cargo unit would have a fleet of eight aircraft with six Boeing 737 and two A 310 aircraft.

"We are going to create a five-year road map for the new unit," she said.

Air India also has plans to resume its international cargo carriage (stopped in September 2009) by the first half of this year with operations to the US and Germany, she said.