With plans to offer end-to-end logistics solutions, DCEL’s freighters will begin to fly with a Dubai–Mumbai– Delhi–Hong Kong route. Eventually the all-freighter company will hub out of the new Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), a complex that is being developed by the Maharashtra government.
Gopinath was instrumental in improving air connectivity to smaller towns across India with his budget carrier and plans to replicate the model for his cargo business. “Today, cargo that lands in Mumbai can take a week to get into industrial clusters in the hinterland. With a hub in Nagpur, we will provide connectivity to 60 cities overnight,†he said according to a Business Standard report.
The cargo airline will follow a huband spoke model with turboprops feeding cargo from small towns, while the Airbus 310 freighters will connect metros and fly cargo to international hubs like Dubai and Hong Kong, among others. In addition to air cargo, DCEL will also provide ground logistics services. The company, over a two-year period, is expected to operate 11 aircraft.
Gopinath’s cargo airline will be pitching itself against established players like Blue Dart, Gati, TNT Express and First Flight, in India’s domestic cargo business.
Deccan will induct three cargo ATRs in the next three or four months, and will initially have a fleet of three Airbus 310s and six ATRs. It has leased ATRs and Airbus 310s that were returned by Air Deccan and Air-India and converted them into freighters. The Airbus-310s are being converted at an EADS facility in Dresden.
Gopinath has been trying to rope in investors for his logistics venture, targeting US$166 million over three years. Wide ranging media reports have said Gopinath has been in talks with several investors, including IBM Venture Capital, Singapore Airlines Cargo and Intel Capital.
The cargo airline will be Gopinath’s third aviation venture after charter aviation and a scheduled airline. Gopinath sold stakes in his airline, Deccan Aviation, to Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines nearly two years ago.