The state-owned airline has is believed to have short-listed three global majors for conversion of these aircraft. The average cost of converting one aircraft into a freighter is Rs 80 million, taking total investment on conversion to Rs 400 million, stated Anita Khurana , Indian Airlines Director (Commercial).
Indian Airlines has firmed up plans to operate these freighter services with Nagpur as a hub, and Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai (via Bangalore and Hyderabad) as originating stations.Khurana further added that the airline has created huge IT infrastructure to trace and track cargo with facilitating bar code.
The airline is believed to be exploring options of converting its subsidiary Alliance Air into an Express Division. However, no decision has been arrived at yet. It is learnt that the airline is exploring options of converting Alliance Air into a dedicated cargo division, or reinventing the airline into a new avatar keeping its proposed merger with Air-India in consideration.
