INDIA's low-cost carrier Spicejet is to launch cargo services from Surat in the second week of April, with further approval pending on freight operations to Delhi and Mumbai.
    The introduction of cargo operations from Surat, the diamond city, to Dubai has keen support from the South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SGCCI) and diamond representatives which met with the airline team on a visit to the city.
    "We are planning special passenger-cum-cargo services for textile and diamond industry of the city. Once we finish discussing the modalities with different agencies, they will be started," said Spicejet cargo chief V Raghuraman, reported India's Economic Times.
    Said SGCCI president Rohit Mehtav: "Federation of Surat Textiles Traders Association (FOSTTA) officials made their presentation for the cargo services to the cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. Representatives of diamond industry demanded cargo services to Dubai and Antwerp."
    FOSTTA, he said, asked for connectivity to 11 different cities of the country from Surat to Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Cuttack, Guwahati, Varanasi, Lucknow, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Jammu, Raipur, Bhopal, Indore, Goa, Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore and Trivandrum.

(source:shipping online)