In line with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) of India’s  Krishi Udan Scheme to give a boost to agro product exports and to aid farmers in transporting agricultural products, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL) and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport  has signed a tri-partite MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with SpiceJet Ltd. at the aegis of the Wings India 2020 in Hyderabad. The MoU aims at promoting export of Agro Products from India to United Arab Emirates and neighboring countries via Hyderabad. Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, UAE was represented by Shri Sanjay Khanna, while GMR Hyderabad International Airport was represented by, Shri SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL; Shri Pradeep Panicker, Deputy CEO, GHIAL; Shri Saurabh Kumar, CEO, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo and Shri Ashish Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, GHIAL; representation from SpiceJet included, Shri Ajay Singh Chairman and Managing Director along with Shri Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, SpiceXpress Ltd;.

As part of this initiative, Ras Al Khaimah International Airport has collaborated with GMR Hyderabad International Airport SpiceJet to create a dedicated freight corridor to leverage the tremendous agro and farming sector potential from centrally located Telangana and the neighboring regions. This will also give direct marketing access and open up new opportunities for both Export and Import that would benefit the farming community in India. Special arrangements are being made for handling the goods both at exporting and destination airports. The target market for this endeavor includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Bahrain. Specially designed equipment will be used for transportation of goods through the dedicated freighter aircraft of SpiceJet. Ras Al Khaimah International Airport would provide infrastructural and local support for the goods and facilitate the onward connection to the Middle East Countries. Operations are expected to start from April 2020 onwards.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Sanjay Khanna, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, said, “We are extremely happy to have partnered with two of the best companies in India from the airport and airline industry, and it gives me immense pleasure to be a part of something so meaningful. We are happy that we would be supporting the Krishi Udan Scheme as well. Ras Al Khaimah International Airport is well known for elaborate and meticulous care in all its air cargo related dealings. We engage with business opportunities that allow us to better connect Ras Al Khaimah  to the world. Perishable goods is a growing market for air cargo. Ensuring that these delicate and short shelf life products reach the customer unspoiled with minimal waste and loss is essential and hence we are committed to assist and ensure smooth movement of cargo, support direct and point to point service and provide the finest quality of service to meet the growing demands from our consumers. I am sure our partnership will cater not only to the UAE market but it will also make neighboring countries very accessible via Ras Al Khaimah International Airport.”

Mr. Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “SpiceJet is delighted to partner with GHIAL and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. This partnership will immensely help boost our farmer’s income by providing them ready access to international markets, strengthen the government’s ‘Krishi Udaan Scheme’ and promote export of agro products from India.”

Mr. SGK Kishore, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd., said, “GMR Hyderabad International Airport is proud to partner with SpiceJet Ltd. and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport to boost the export of Agro Products from India to United Arab Emirates and its neighboring countries through Hyderabad. This MoU is a strategic step to foster the visionary outlook of the Govt. of India, which introduced the ‘Krishi Udan scheme’ to assist our farmers and extend all the logistic support that enables our farming products reach global destinations. Through this endeavor, we are also collaborating with farmer associations towards enabling a perennial supply of farm products through a dedicated freighter corridor. This MoU will also create a robust platform to harness our agricultural markets and help create an entire ecosystem for exporting perishable agro products from Hyderabad.”

Key Benefits of the MoU:

• This would promote exports from the region under the Krishi Udaan Scheme also entail extension of support to the Agro Trade by achieving Operational Efficiencies, On-time Uplift/Delivery and Networking.
• There will be sustained efforts to promote the Air-Corridor between Telangana and neighboring states; the United Arab Emirates and neighboring countries with time-bound service to the agro exporters.

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