's major airports are expected to enjoy air freight volumes rise between now and 2012, with Mumbai expected to grow one per cent in 2009-10, followed by 6.99 per cent growth in 2010-11, and by eight per cent in the 2011-12 period, the Shipping Gazette reported.

This according to figures in projects from Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who said Delhi air freight is expected to grow 3.7 per cent in 2009-10, four per cent in 2010-11 and five per cent in 2011-12.

Even higher rates of growth are forecast for Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad .

A report by Domain B, , noted that after rising significantly in 2007-08, 's air cargo traffic at metropolitan airports fell slightly in 2008-09. The total volume of cargo handled at airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad from 2008-09 was 1,418,000 tons.

The upbeat government forecast comes amid a series of measures in recent years to boost air cargo volumes, including heavy investment in air cargo handling infrastructure at major airports, installation of modern colour x-ray machines, greater automation in the air cargo handling activities, implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems, introduction of consignment bar-coding, and the provision of integrated cargo terminal facilities.

Source: Transport Weekly