Bengaluru, Mar 13 : A dedicated express cargo terminal, claimed to be first of its kind in the country, was set up at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here on a 2,00,000 sqft.

The terminal, exclusively for export and import of international couriers, was inaugurated by M Srinivas, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Bengaluru Zone on Friday evening.
According to an official release issued here on Saturday, Developed by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the terminal will house leading global express courier organisations such as DHL Express and FedEx Express. Express Industry Council of India (EICI) will operate the Common-User Express.Terminal for other courier companies.
The terminal will have a dedicated space for customs offices and direct access to both landside and airside. Besides enabling ease of doing business and reducing transaction time, the facility is expected to reduce the cost for the shipper by providing a dedicated facility for express courier shipments.

The new facility will enable KIA to process 1,50,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) annually, taking the airport’s overall annual cargo capacity to 7,20,000 MT, from the existing 5,70,000 MT.
The express cargo market for business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sectors has tremendous potential to grow over the next decade, thanks to the larger playing field with multiple service providers, improved transit time and value added services.(UNI)