Messe Muenchen India concluded the 10th edition of air cargo India on a jubilant note with stakeholders expressing delight at the curated experiences, knowledge exchange, and potential partnerships emerging from this platform. With a 24% increase in exhibition space over the previous edition, air cargo India 2024 witnessed higher representation from key decision makers in the air cargo ecosystem, including airlines, airports, cargo handlers, GSAs, and many other services like IT systems, drone companies, etc.
The inauguration ceremony was graced by industry veterans as well as representatives from the foreign missions of Germany and Turkey, in addition to air cargo India Advisory Board members comprising seniormost representatives from Emirates SkyCargo, Qatar Airways Cargo, Dachser India, Skyways Group Airports, Delhi International Airport, Adani Airports, and Air India.
On winning the Air Cargo Woman Leader of the Year Award, Elisabeth Oudkerk, Senior VP, Cargo Sales and Network Planning, Qatar Airways, said, “This is a great opportunity to demonstrate women’s contributions to the transport and logistics industry. We are delighted to participate in this forum and join all our partners to ideate on the future of air cargo logistics. The experience at this edition has been worthwhile as we continue to build on our relationships in the Indian market.”
Leading exhibitor and sponsor, Abdulla Alkhallafi, Cargo Manager – India & Nepal, Emirates SkyCargo, said, “We’re glad to have the largest presence at this edition as it allows us to create a good customer experience. Our processes and solutions are built on customer feedback, and a platform like this allows us to listen carefully to our customers and understand their needs.”
Ramesh Mamidala, Head – Air Cargo, Tata Air India, said, “This is a great platform for us to keep sharing our expertise and success stories, not only in the Indian subcontinent but across markets. We have had interesting discussions with existing partners, and we foresee good potential for future partnerships too. The conference sessions were quite insightful as we could gauge the perspectives from multiple stakeholders on one platform. We have had a good overall experience at this edition.”
Content-focussed conferences
With 12 conferences over three days, air cargo India 2024 attracted 50+ globally-acclaimed speakers, industry veterans and thought leaders, in addition to 600+ conference delegates from 50+ countries. The conference topics at this edition dived into the aspects of capacity expansion, sustainability initiatives, digitisation, and other technology solutions for higher trade volumes in certain sectors like pharmaceuticals, perishables, ecommerce, and many others.
Speaking at one of the conferences on agri exports, Kaushal Khakhar, CEO, KayBee Exports, said, “To achieve annual air cargo volumes of 10 million tonnes, all stakeholders will have to come together and work harder for mutual benefits. For example, as an exporter of fresh produce and perishables, my company depends on the competitive and timely services offered by airlines and airports. Therefore, the conference sessions at this edition offered us the right platform to exchange views and experiences so that all stakeholders can go back and work on their solutions for the demand sectors.”
Conference delegate from Kenya, Geoffrey Mato, GSA Manager, Tradewinds Express Ltd, said, “We work on large volumes of trade between Kenya and India via the Middle East. So, this is a great platform to learn about the cargo industry trends across these various markets and make contacts with professionals from different cargo hubs. I am happy to meet my old friends here and make some new contacts too.”
Enjoyable evenings for networking and celebration
Apart from the exhibitions and conferences, air cargo India is also recognised for the enjoyable networking sessions and the prestigious awards ceremony organised by the STAT Times Group. This year’s awards were presented to 21 companies for excellence in various aspects of the air cargo value chain, including the Lifetime Achievement Award presented to industry veteran Cyrus Gazder.
About the success of air cargo India 2024, Bhupinder Singh, CEO, Messe Muenchen India, said, “We are delighted at the overwhelming response to this milestone 10th edition of air cargo India. We witnessed some solid ideas and insights exchanged at the conferences as well as the exhibition floor. The networking evenings and awards ceremony were truly delightful as they brought together the ecosystem to celebrate their well-deserved success. We are confident that the networks and partnerships emerging from this edition will have a long-term positive influence on the competitiveness of the Indian air cargo industry.”
Dr. Robert Schönberger, Global Industry Lead transport logistic exhibitions at Messe München GmbH, said, “air cargo India once again demonstrated its leadership among trade fairs for the air freight industry in this part of the world. The discussions on logistics solutions for pharmaceuticals, ecommerce, and perishables sectors were indeed enriching. We saw the launch of innovative products and solutions for these sectors, and we look forward to building on these networks and partnerships for the forthcoming editions.”
