Air freight demand may touch 1.1 million tonnes by 2025: Report

The domestic air freight demand is expected to touch 1.1 million tonne by the fiscal 2025 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7-9 per cent propelled by rapidly growing e-commerce activity, increasing capacity and improving airline connectivity to smaller cities, according to a research note.

However, cargo capacity of airlines is expected to grow at a higher CAGR of 13-15 per cent, given the impending fleet expansions. This will further shift the market towards airlines, ratings agency Crisil said on Thursday.
The estimated Rs 600-700 crore domestic dedicated air freighter market stood at 0.8 million in 2019, logging a CAGR of 8 per cent in the last five fiscals, it said.

Ironically, the domestic dedicated freighters fleet currently stands at only seven planes compared with about 680 passenger aircraft, including of the grounded carrier Jet Airways, it said.