Delhi airport operationalises Transshipment Excellence Centre to cut down cargo's transfer time

The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which manages Indira Gandhi International Airport, on Monday announced that it has become the first airport in the country to operationalise a dedicated Transshipment Excellence Centre (TEC) to simplify and expedite the procedure for transfer of transhipment cargo. Transhipment is the process of offloading cargo from one aircraft and loading it to another aircraft at a point between the origin city and final destination.

"This (TEC) will provide enhanced connectivity to transhipment cargo. The shippers/exporters from unserved territories can get their cargo connected to the world through Delhi Airport," said the DIAL, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure. "For example, with this facility, Bangladesh will now be able to connect to the US, Europe, Middle East etc. through multiple International airlines operating out of Delhi Airport," it added.

The newly created TEC of Delhi airport will simplify and expedite the procedure for transfer of transhipment cargo, according to the DIAL. The TEC facility is spread over an area of over 6,500 square metres and it can process 20,000 metric tonnes of cargo per month, it added.

"The TEC....has elaborate infrastructure set-up with all the required operational apparatuses for round the clock delivery of services," it added. According to the DIAL, the TEC can process cargo between 45 minutes and 6 hours, depending upon the type and volume of cargo.

The Customs department of the central government has given its clearances to operationalise a dedicated TEC at Delhi airport and has also charted out the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for transhipment of cargo, as per the DIAL.