War Cargo Gets India ACAAI Plan

     In Mumbai, during the last week of February, the air cargo industry gathered at the air cargo india conference with the optimistic hope for a great 2026 business year propelled by its dozens of awards and recognitions and corporate projections of boom times at India’s doorstep.
     The following week, the raging fight between Iran and the U.S. and Israel saw ongoing problems in several major air routes serving India.
     Airlines changed their flight schedules and flight paths.
     Impact upon India’s air cargo business is huge as that particular segment relies heavily on airports in the Gulf.
     Facing that reality, The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is advising airlines to be more careful, which would seem academic, but in the face of uncertainty nothing goes unmentioned these days.
     No doubt, air cargo india conference, which came off as a big success seems like a million miles aways, as exporters and everybody else in the supply chain is keenly impacted by the war raging all around the Middle East.
     Now getting things simply from A to B is the top priority.
     Most of India's long-distance air cargo goes through airports in the Middle East, where bigger cargo planes and passenger planes send shipments to Europe and North America, airports in the Gulf such as Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are now completely shut down.
     The Gulf is more than a market it is a gateway.
     Airspace is restricted so airlines to and from India have to fly around in circuitous routing, adding an hour or two to flights.
     This means increased fuel burn, tighter schedules and delayed flights.
     Because of flight delays, impact at home means India shipments of medicine, food, electronics and clothes are piling up at cargo terminals in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
     The Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) has told the Directorate General of Civil Aviation that cargo is stuck because of flight changes, route limits and irregular schedules. The ACAAI want the Ministry of Civil Aviation to tell cargo terminal operators to waive storage charges during this time.
     The President of ACAAI Samir J. Shah says that exporters and air cargo companies should not be penalized for problems they cannot control because of the Iran-U.S. war.
     The delays are exclusively because of the war, a situation that exporters, customs brokers or air cargo agents cannot control.
     Shah also reports that the current environment is disrupting the air logistics chain, which places an unfair financial burden on exporters, who are already dealing with shipment delays and uncertainties.
     Shipping costs are going up because airlines have to fly longer routes and use more fuel.
     Insurance costs are rising because of the increased risk in conflict areas.
     Shipping times are getting longer for shipments that go through Gulf airports.
     Food can spoil if temperature controls are disrupted.
     Exporters are also worried about problems in the Red Sea area, which adds to the uncertainty for shipments that travel by sea and air.
     For industries like medicine, where fast shipping's important and food exporters that have to deliver quickly even a delay of a day or two can cause losses.
     India's trade system is vulnerable.
     When Asian airspace becomes unstable:
      Transit airports slow down. Even if airports stay open the airspace gets crowded as airlines avoid conflict areas. Flights take longer. Planes take routes over the Arabian Sea or Central Asia. Fewer planes are available. Longer flights mean each plane can make only a certain number of trips each week.
     First, repeated problems in West Asia may push India to create direct cargo routes to Europe and the U.S. reducing its reliance on Gulf airports. Indian airlines have been expanding their fleets, and events like this may encourage direct routes.
     Second exporters may change their shipping patterns trying out routes through Central Asia or using cargo airports in India. Airports like Delhi and Mumbai are expanding their cargo facilities and cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru are investing in facilities for medicine.
     We can expect to see flexible shipping options as Red Sea concerns put pressure on air travel. Supply chains may have to use alternate routes, expect changes in insurance and risk costs. Ongoing geopolitical issues could mean shipping contracts include risk charges and flexible rerouting terms.
Tirthankar Ghosh