‘Limited belly capacity deepens domestic cargo volatility’

CK Govil, Chairman and Managing Director, Activair Airfreight said, “The recent surge and subsequent volatility in domestic cargo capacity has been closely linked to passenger fleet availability, with IndiGo playing a disproportionately large role in the domestic market. The ongoing operational disruptions at IndiGo are likely to have a lingering impact well into 2026, particularly if aircraft groundings and induction delays continue. Given IndiGo’s scale, even marginal reductions translate into meaningful capacity constraints for domestic cargo.

At present, other domestic airlines do not have adequate belly-hold capacity to fully absorb the displaced volumes. The domestic market remains structurally dependent on passenger aircraft, and the limited presence of dedicated freighters exacerbates the shortfall, especially on high-density trunk routes and time-sensitive sectors.

Operationally, this imbalance is expected to increase volatility in cargo movement, force ad-hoc network planning, and place pressure on service reliability. Cargo agents and shippers may face higher costs, tighter cut-off times, and inconsistent uplift, underscoring the need for long-term capacity planning, freighter induction, and policy support to stabilise India’s domestic air cargo ecosystem.”