Air India reduces Delhi cargo transfer time to 5-8 hours, expands pilot across India-Europe routes

Air India on Sunday announced the successful operationalisation of the Government of India's new cargo transshipment policy through an ongoing Proof of Concept (PoC) on the Chennai-Delhi-Frankfurt air cargo corridor, launched on 20 June 2026.

The Tata Group-owned carrier has reduced cargo connection time at Delhi Airport from 36-48 hours to 5-8 hours under a pilot of the government's new cargo transshipment policy, and will now expand the initiative across more India-Europe routes.

Air India successfully operationalised the 90-day PoC for the new policy, approved by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).


The new policy allows eligible cargo shipments to remain securely packed during transit, eliminating the need for piece-level re-screening and reducing handling requirements.

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Following government approval to expand the pilot, Air India will enable seamless cargo movements via Delhi for eligible shipments originating from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, with onward connections to Copenhagen, Frankfurt and London Heathrow.

Over the two months between June 20 and August 20, Air India transported 300 metric tonnes of cargo from Chennai to Frankfurt via Delhi. Average cargo volumes on the corridor doubled to 4.5 metric tonnes per day from 2.2 metric tonnes earlier.

The airline also improved its Flown-as-Booked performance to 100% from 76%, while recording zero cargo loss or damage during transit.

Earlier, cargo travelling from Chennai to Frankfurt via Delhi had to be unpacked at Delhi Airport, with individual packages undergoing mandatory security re-screening before being rebuilt and loaded onto the onward flight. The additional handling could add more than 24 hours to transit time.

Under the revised framework, eligible cargo can remain securely packed in the same Unit Load Device (ULD) throughout its journey, subject to prescribed security controls. This eliminates piece-level re-screening at the transit airport and reduces handling, transit time and the risk of damage or discrepancies.

P Balaji, Group Head for Governance, Risk, Compliance and Corporate Affairs at Air India, said the policy would help strengthen the competitiveness of Indian airports and support growth across the logistics value chain.

“This new cargo transshipment policy is an important step towards that objective. By making cargo transfers faster and more efficient, it will help strengthen the competitiveness of Indian airports and support growth across the logistics value chain,” he added.

Ramesh Mamidala, Head of Cargo at Air India, said the new framework could help India attract transit cargo currently routed through foreign gateways, unlock additional volumes for airlines and improve aircraft belly utilisation.

Delhi alone has the potential to attract more than 2 million metric tonnes of additional annual transshipment cargo across more than 95 addressable international air cargo corridors, he said.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the framework will eventually be extended to domestic-to-international, international-to-domestic and international-to-international cargo movements through Indian airports.