India Air Cargo Capacity Reaches 3.9 Million Tonnes as New Gateways and Pharma Logistics Accelerate the Race to 10 Million Tonnes by 2030

Makreo Research finds Northern India accounts for 32.32% of shipment volume as new airports, specialised cold-chain infrastructure and technology-led express networks reshape the India air cargo and express logistics market through 2031

India's air cargo and express logistics sector is moving through one of its most consequential 12-month stretches in years, absorbing a Middle East-driven freight rate shock, welcoming two new cargo airports into commercial service, and watching Chennai's electronics exports offset a Gulf-linked demand slump, all while the underlying growth story stays intact. According to Makreo Research and Consulting's India Air Cargo and Express Logistics Market and Forecast to 2031 report, India's air cargo capacity has already grown 47 percent over the past decade, ranking the country sixth globally and third in domestic freight as of January 2026, with capacity reaching 3.9 million tonnes in FY 2026 and targeted by government policy to expand to 10 million tonnes by 2030 and 21 million tonnes by 2047.

The study, which covers the FY 2023 to FY 2031 period with FY 2026E as its base year, finds the market expanding at a study-period CAGR of 1.30 percent by volume, with the Northern zone, anchored by Delhi, leading India's geographic distribution at a 32.32 percent share. Air cargo accounts for 88.90 percent of the combined India Air Cargo and Courier Services market by volume in FY 2026, with courier and express parcel movement making up the remaining 11.10 percent.

Request the Sample Report:
India Air Cargo and Express Logistics Market and Forecast to 2031
https://www.makreo.com/report/india-air-cargo-and-express-logistics-market-and-forecast-to-2031

Freight Rate Shock - India Routes Rise 30 Percent as Middle East Disruption Tightens Capacity-
Air freight rates from India increased sharply in March 2026 as Middle East tensions disrupted established transit corridors and reduced available capacity on major international routes.

Key developments included:
• Freight rates from India to Europe and the United States rose by approximately 30% week-on-week, according to TAC Index data reported by Indian Transport and Logistics News.
• Jet fuel prices climbed to nearly double their year-earlier levels, while fuel surcharges had not yet been fully applied across several flights.
• The global Baltic Air Freight Index increased by 2.6% week-on-week, although it remained slightly below the previous year's level.

The capacity disruption also affected global air cargo demand. According to the International Air Transport Association:
• Global cargo tonne-kilometres declined by 4.8% year-on-year in March 2026.
International air cargo traffic fell by 5.5%.
• Middle Eastern air cargo demand contracted by 54.3% year-on-year as Gulf hub connectivity weakened.
• frica recorded 7.0% growth, supported by cargo traffic diverted away from disrupted Middle Eastern routes.
• The Europe-Asia trade lane expanded by 14.2% year-on-year, continuing its multi-year growth trend.

Despite these pressures, India's air cargo sector remained resilient. Total freight handled at Indian airports increased from 315,000 tonnes in April 2025 to 348,000 tonnes in April 2026, representing growth of approximately 10%.

Chennai recorded the strongest growth among major Indian airports at 16.4%, driven primarily by rising electronics exports. Between January and early April 2026, around 30 freighters carrying Apple products departed Chennai for the United States. In March alone, 14 freighters transported approximately 1,000 tonnes of cargo to the United States and Hong Kong, helping offset the impact of weaker Gulf-linked freight activity.

Cost and Pricing Dynamics: Why Domestic Air Freight Costs More Per Tonne Than International-
Based on Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data as of September 2025, breaks down India air freight pricing into five components: core transportation, at 51.43 percent of total cost, is the largest line item, followed by other charges such as fuel surcharges, insurance, and congestion premiums at 30.13 percent, documentation and administration at 8.21 percent, terminal handling at 6.40 percent, and security screening at 3.81 percent.

Distance is a significant cost driver within India. Domestic air freight over the 500-to-1,000-kilometre band costs an estimated INR 108.1 per tonne per kilometre, roughly double the INR 53.3 per tonne per kilometre seen on the 1,500-to-2,500-kilometre band, against a national average of INR 72.0, reflecting how fixed costs such as landing and ground handling charges are diluted less effectively over shorter domestic hauls. A related structural factor is capacity: international wide-body aircraft typically carry 15 to 30 tonnes of belly cargo per flight, five to six times the 2-to-5-tonne capacity of the narrow-body aircraft that dominate India's domestic network, which further raises the per-tonne-kilometre cost of moving freight within the country relative to international routes.

On outbound international lanes, Makreo Research's route-level rate benchmarking shows India-to-Europe corridors priced between USD 2.80 and USD 4.50 per kilogram in standard season, rising to USD 4.00 to USD 6.50 per kilogram at peak, with the Bengaluru and Mumbai-to-Frankfurt and Hamburg corridor to Germany priced marginally higher, at USD 2.80 to USD 4.80 standard and USD 4.00 to USD 6.80 at peak. That positions India above lower-cost corridors such as Morocco-to-Europe, at USD 1.80 to USD 3.80, but below the China-to-US lane, at USD 3.50 to USD 5.50, underscoring India's position as a mid-tier-cost, high-growth origin market for global freight forwarders and airlines allocating capacity.

Trade Lane Momentum: WorldACD and Maersk Data Point to Sustained India Growth-
Even as rates spiked, underlying trade lane volumes from India kept expanding. Cargo tonnages from India to the United States rose 15 percent year-on-year in the week of January 19 to 25, 2026, extending growth seen through the final months of 2025 despite higher US tariffs introduced in the second half of last year, according to WorldACD's Weekly Air Cargo Trends. India remained the largest origin market within the broader Middle East and South Asia region, which posted a 10 percent year-on-year increase in the same week, with shipments to the US up 11 percent and to Europe up 7 percent.

A.P. Moller-Maersk's first-quarter 2026 results reinforced the picture, with the shipping and logistics major reporting a 20 percent year-on-year increase in global air freight volumes to 82,000 tonnes, driven by transatlantic charter activity and demand for AI-related products, semiconductors, and electronics. Within India, Maersk cited stronger terminal activity in Mumbai as a contributor to a 3.4 percent rise in volumes across its Asia terminals business, while international cargo load factors averaged 51.6 percent for the quarter, up 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Average air freight rates started the quarter near USD 2.1 per kilogram before climbing to USD 2.4 per kilogram by the end of March as Middle East disruption intensified.

Navi Mumbai Opens a New International Export Gateway-
North India gained its own new cargo gateway when Noida International Airport (NIA) at Jewar received its inaugural cargo flight on June 17, 2026, an Afcom Holdings-operated Boeing 737-800F carrying nearly 20 tonnes of mixed freight, including perishables, mobile phones, electronics, and auto components, on the Chennai-Noida-Chennai route. The flight activated Phase 1 of AISATS' 87-acre Multi Modal Cargo Hub, comprising an Integrated Cargo Terminal and an Integrated Warehousing and Logistics Zone, built under a tripartite agreement among AISATS, Afcom, and Noida International Airport Limited that evolved from a September 2025 memorandum of understanding. With roughly 55 percent of India's mobile phones manufactured in the surrounding Noida-Greater Noida belt, officials expect the hub to accelerate electronics, pharmaceutical, and agricultural exports from northern India.

Airlines Expand Freighter Connectivity Across Key Trade Corridors-
Carriers are actively adding India capacity even as they navigate Middle East volatility. Lufthansa Cargo reintroduced Delhi into its dedicated freighter network under its summer 2026 schedule, effective March 29, 2026, adding a weekly rotation that lifts total weekly cargo connectivity to India to six flights as part of a broader network of 87 weekly freighter flights to 35 destinations operated by its fleet of 18 Boeing 777 freighters.

IndiGo launched a new India-China freighter route on April 20, 2026, connecting Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport with Kunming Changshui International Airport three times a week using an Airbus A321 freighter. The inaugural flight carried around nine tonnes of crabs from India on the inbound leg and roughly 21.4 tonnes of general cargo outbound, opening a corridor intended to support fresh produce, cross-border e-commerce parcels, and general trade between eastern India and southwest China.

Riyadh Cargo, the dedicated freight division of Riyadh Air, appointed Air Logistics Group India as its General Sales and Service Agent (GSSA) across India in May 2026, part of a wider expansion across Egypt, India, and the United Arab Emirates designed to strengthen Riyadh Cargo's presence in high-growth trade markets in support of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 logistics strategy.

Surface Express Networks Are Reshaping Domestic Logistics Economics-
Beyond air cargo, India's broader express logistics ecosystem is undergoing structural change. A "Winning on Speed" report released by Aviral Consulting on April 7, 2026, in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal, found that surface transport now dominates domestic express volumes, driven by highway improvements, e-commerce demand, and cost pressures, while air cargo increasingly moves into a specialised, premium role for time-sensitive shipments. The report also flagged a widening gap between large organised players and smaller operators, even as cross-border express logistics emerges as a key growth driver.

Allcargo Logistics is scaling its own technology-enabled distribution network to meet rising demand from India's consumer durables sector, citing growing urbanisation, digital commerce adoption, and changing consumption patterns across appliances, electronics, and white goods categories; the company currently operates 76 distribution and transshipment facilities nationally. Separately, the Department of Posts signed a memorandum of understanding with DTDC Express in April 2026, giving DTDC access to India Post's network of 1.64 lakh post offices to expand parcel delivery, improve speed, and extend e-commerce logistics reach into remote areas.

Pharma and Cold Chain: Hyderabad Anchors India's Temperature-Controlled Cargo Push-
Pharmaceuticals remain one of the anchor verticals for India air cargo demand, with exports crossing USD 30.3 billion in FY 2026, according to Makreo Research's analysis. Hyderabad International Airport, where pharma constituted 73 percent of exports in FY 2025, has become the preferred South Asian gateway for pharma and vaccine shipments, with Telangana accounting for 40 percent of India's pharmaceutical production and roughly one-third of global vaccine production as of December 2025.

Global logistics providers are investing accordingly. Kuehne+Nagel opened a temperature-controlled airfreight cross-dock in Hyderabad on May 5, 2026, its second HealthChain-certified facility in India after a Bengaluru Cool Zone site launched in December 2025, offering dedicated zones spanning 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and 15 to 25 degrees Celsius across a 248-square-metre footprint. DHL Express, meanwhile, expanded its Time Definite International portfolio worldwide on May 11, 2026, with the launch of Heavy Weight Express (HWX), a new solution for shipments up to 1,000 kilograms per piece and 3,000 kilograms per shipment, targeting industries including technology, automotive manufacturing, engineering, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and energy.

FedEx, DHL and Blue Dart Strengthen Competitive Investment-
Competition within the India air cargo and express logistics market is intensifying as global integrators, dedicated cargo operators, airport-service providers and domestic logistics companies expand infrastructure and service capabilities.

Makreo Research classifies the competitive landscape across three broad groups:
1. Express integrators combining courier networks with dedicated or contracted aviation capacity
2. Cargo airlines and freighter operators providing air capacity
3. Freight forwarders and logistics service providers coordinating multimodal cargo movement

Blue Dart Express, part of DHL Group, remains one of the leading participants in India's organised air-express market. The company delivered approximately 47 million secured parcels and reported FY 2025 total income of around INR 57.62 billion. Its operations were supported by a dedicated fleet of eight aircraft and a network covering more than 56,400 locations.

FedEx is investing more than INR 2,500 crore in an approximately 300,000-square-foot automated cargo hub at Navi Mumbai International Airport. The development is intended to expand sorting, cargo-handling and international connectivity capabilities in western India.

DHL Group has committed approximately EUR 1 billion to Indian logistics infrastructure through 2030, covering automated sorting, express hubs, healthcare logistics and specialised infrastructure supporting electric-vehicle and battery supply chains.

Allcargo Logistics has established a Vision 2030 target of increasing its air freight volume from approximately 34,000 tonnes to around 60,000 tonnes, supported by new trade lanes, customer acquisition and digital freight platforms.
Investment across the sector indicates that competitive advantage is shifting toward companies capable of combining physical infrastructure with digital visibility, customs expertise, specialised cargo handling and nationwide distribution.

How Makreo Research Defines the India Air Cargo and Express Logistics Opportunity-
The India Air Cargo and Express Logistics Market and Forecast to 2031 evaluates the industry across:
India Air Cargo & Express Logistics Market Segmentation-
By Shipment Category
• Air Cargo
• Courier

By Operational Role
• Air Freight Carriers & Airliners
• Air Freight Forwarders & Shippers
• Airport Terminals
• Ground Handling

By Service Type
• Domestic
• International

By Cargo Type
• General Cargo
• Pharmaceuticals
• Perishable Goods (Agri and Seafood)
• High Value Goods (Electronics and Electricals)

By Capacity
• Dedicated Freighters
• Belly Cargo

By Airport Ownership Model
• JV International
• PPP International
• International Airports
• Domestic Airports
• State Govt / Pvt. Airports
• State Govt/ Pvt. International
• Custom Airports

Air Freight Market - Segment Overview
By Service Type
• International
• Domestic

Geography Assessed
By Domestic Zone
• Western
• Eastern
• North-East
• Northern
• Southern

Air Freight Market, By Geography
By Trade Region
• Africa & Middle East
• Asia Pacific
• Europe
• China & North Asia
• The Americas

Competitive Landscape
• Competition
• Company Profiles

Companies assessed include Blue Dart Express, Blue Dart Aviation, FedEx India, DHL Express India, UPS Supply Chain Solutions India, among others.

On the cold chain side that underpins pharma and perishables movement, Makreo Research's analysis puts India's total agricultural exports at approximately USD 52.55 billion in FY 2026, with seafood the largest perishables contributor at roughly USD 8.28 billion (INR 72,325 crore) across nearly 1.93 million tonnes, driven substantially by frozen shrimp. Maharashtra alone handled around 33,638 metric tonnes of air-shipped perishables, supported by more than 130 export-oriented units. India's cold storage network has reached more than 8,800 facilities with approximately 45 million metric tonnes of capacity as of FY 2026, projected to expand to 50 million metric tonnes by 2030.

India Air Cargo and Express Logistics Market and Forecast to 2031
https://www.makreo.com/report/india-air-cargo-and-express-logistics-market-and-forecast-to-2031

Related Reports:
Saudi Arabia Freight and Logistics Market and Forecast to 2030
https://www.makreo.com/report/saudi-arabia-freight-and-logistics-market-size-and-forecast-2021-2030

East and Southern Africa Warehousing and Storage Market and Forecast to 2031
https://www.makreo.com/report/east-and-southern-africa-warehousing-and-storage-market-and-forecast-to-2031

Custom Research Services
Makreo's custom research services address strategic questions across the India air cargo and express logistics market. Coverage includes market sizing and demand forecasting, trade-lane and route-level analysis, freight-rate benchmarking, airport cargo infrastructure assessment, capacity and fleet analysis, cargo-segment evaluation, competitor tracking, and market-entry and expansion strategy.
For custom research: https://www.makreo.com/custom-research

Market Survey Services
Makreo's market survey services provide primary intelligence through targeted research with airlines, cargo operators, freight forwarders, express and courier companies, airport terminal operators, ground-handling agencies, shippers, distributors, and logistics professionals across India's major air cargo hubs.
For market surveys: https://www.makreo.com/market-survey

About Makreo Research and Consulting Makreo Research and Consulting provides global market intelligence reports, custom research, and consumer market surveys across energy and renewables, logistics, FMCG, skincare, automotive, construction chemicals, and other sectors. With offices in Mississauga (Canada), Mumbai, and Pune, Makreo serves corporate strategy, product management, business development, and investment functions at multinational corporations, private equity firms, and government bodies across more than 40 countries.

To discuss your market entry, expansion strategy, or competitive benchmarking needs across the India air cargo and express logistics market, contact us at sales@makreo.com.

Makreo Research and Consulting
801, Trishul Goldmine, Palm Beach, Sector 15, Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400614, India

Contact us:
Phone Number
+91-9619699069

Email Address
sales@makreo.com

This release was published on openPR.