First intl flight touches down at Nagpur

The first international chartered air freight carrier to Nagpur Airport touched down here from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in South-West China, around 12.30 pm on Tuesday.

This is also the first time that the dry port facilities at the airport "" provided in anticipation of the cargo hub being developed "" were put to good use.

The carrier, a Russian made IL-76 "" a transport aircraft which the IAF also uses as Gajrajs "" was carrying 22 metric tonnes of cargo for Balco in Korba, Chhattisgarh.

Clearing agents for the consignment, Pune-based S Y Ranade and Company, said that the cargo was rotor blades ordered by Balco for turbines of its 135 Mw captive power plant.

Ashish Ranade of S Y Ranade and Company said that the giant aircraft touched down around 12.30 pm after which unloading and custom formalities took up most of the day.

The cargo was off-loaded onto a ramp and transferred to a trailer truck which is expected to leave for Korba late evening. It will reach Balco on Wednesday afternoon.

The cost of the cargo, including customs duty is around Rs 12 crore. Ranade said that the freight carrier was chartered by the Delhi-based Aqua Logistics through an international brokering firm.