International air cargo handled during Oct 90% of its year-ago level: Puri

International air cargo handled in India during October was 90 per cent of its year-ago level, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

"With our skies & airports busy facilitating more than 1.81 crore domestic passengers since May 25, 2020, another area which witnessed robust activity & growth is air cargo," he said on Twitter.

India had resumed scheduled domestic passenger services from May 25 after a gap of two months due to coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23. However, air cargo operations - national and international - have not been suspended this year.

The air cargo data across the country has shown multiple green shoots, Puri said.

Air cargo at Indian airports has increased from 1.55 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2006-07 to 3.56 MMT in 2018-19. It faced a minor dip to 3.33 MMT during 2019-20 as a result of global downturn due to COVID-19, he said.

"India's international air cargo in October 2020 has already reached 90 per cent of the 2019 October level," the minister added.