Chennai, May
21:
The Chennai
Port Trust plans to build an air freight station (AFS) near the airport under
public-private-partnership mode.
The Port Trust
owns 2.13 acre of land about 2 km from the Anna International Airport.
“We intend to
develop this land to commercially benefit the port. One of the avenues we
intend to explore is the commissioning of an AFS,” said an official of the Port
Trust. Incidentally, the country's first AFS, which is a concept based on the
idea of providing airlines nodes near the production centres, was commissioned
at Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) four years ago.
Faced with
congestion at the Chennai air cargo complex, the air cargo user community
suggested the AFS to hold imported goods. Currently, there are two AFSs – CWC
and Indev.
There is scope
for more such facilities at Chennai.
The location is
ideal for this facility as cargo volume through the Chennai airport is on the
increase, the official said. An aircraft's cargo will be shifted to the AFS and
consignees can take delivery of the cargo after statutory clearances and duty
including customs documentation and examination; cargo acceptance check (weight
/ volume); security checks (x-ray screening / physical check) and
palletisation.
The AFS will
help avoid congestion at the gateway airports.
The advantages
are: an integrated chain; customised logistics solution; lower logistics cost
dwell time at the airport and lesser damages/claims.
The Port Trust
has issued an expression of interest notice to the trade to explore market
interest for developing an AFS.
It could also
be a dry dock for storage of air cargo and its stuffing/destuffing from air
containers to complement the facilities at the air cargo complex.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article3442458.ece
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