DHL opens bonded warehouse at BIAL

DHL Global Forwarding (DGF), the air and ocean freight arm of DHL, will have a dedicated bonded space of 1,255 sq metre for both imports and exports inside the cargo terminal managed by Air India - Singapore Airport Terminal Services.

With this DHL has become the first organisation to get permission to have a direct access to cargo within a bonded area at any airport in the country. DHL has a dedicated area for issuance of DGF import delivery orders in cargo terminal which facilitates customs brokers for speedy processing of shipments.

 

Announcing the inauguration of the new facility at a press conference, here today, Tony Widmer, global head of air freight for DHL Global Forwarding, said, "South India is an important region for DHL given the flow of cargo and the growth that we have experienced over the last few years. The Bangalore international airport will be an important destination in our growth strategy."

DHL currently has 24 per cent market share of the total import and export volumes from Bangalore airport. In 2007, total airfreight handled out of Bangalore airport was 89,987 tonnes, of which 50,837 tonnes were imports and 39,150 tonnes were exports. DGF accounted for 29.7 per cent of the total imports and 16.77 per cent was exports.

According to cargo projections made by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the new international airport is projected to handle 300,000 tonnes of cargo by 2010.

Madhav Thapar, sub-regional air freight director-South Asia, DGF said, "Bangalore is a strong growth market for air cargo catering to the IT, electronics, pharmaceutical and garments industry and recording a steady double digit year on year growth. Bangalore has the potential to become the gateway for the entire region, and also an international hub - strategically located to manage cargo from Tamil Nadu and Kerala."

He said the new airport is expected to attract more flights and stimulate business growth. DHL expects to grow its business in Bangalore by over 20 per cent in the next year with the new cargo facility playing a major role in this growth.

Widmer said the company has recently tied up with Jet Airways to become their preferred partner. Under this partnership, Jet will lift DHL cargo on all their international flights whenever they have extra space left in their aircraft. This partnership will also be extended to domestic routes over a period of time.

"In addition to Jet, we are also looking at having a similar arrangements with other airline companies in the country. This will help us in faster movements of cargo as required by our customers," he said.