Dubai flower center, a multistory facility located next to the Dubai cargo village is one of the most advanced cold storage. It is specially designed for storage of flowers. It is designed for processing of flowers imported primarily from Africa for both the local market and for distribution to the region. The initial stage for this center was designed for an annual throughout of up to 180000 tonnes of flowers. The perishable handling area in Dubai cargo mega terminal is about 4623 square meters floor space with 3927 square meters of 218 individual cells of temperature zones. Narobi is another airport having a pair of on-airport refrigerated storage facilities operated by the ground handling subsidiary of Kenya Airways, as well as a standalone cold storage operated by DHL on the airport and Swiss port off the airport.

Changi terminals offers dedicated care in perishable handling facility that is temperature monitored and humidity controlled to cater different types of requirements and a wide range of commodities. When we consider the case of India it is a long way to go as it has just stepped into this. In dealing with the perishables it is at nascent stage of growth in the Indian air cargo sector when it is compared to international scenario. There are many sectors where the Indian market really needs to buck up.

India has the potential to become one of the world’s great air cargo centers. A population of more than 1.2 billion, rapid growth of international trade and huge manufacturing engine all bode well for the industry. But whatever the reason, it is unknown that India has not realized this great potential. It is agreed by the participants that inadequate infrastructure in the country is a major obstacle followed by the cost inefficiencies and the need for governmental and tax reforms. In 1960 the per capita income of Singapore at purchasing power parity was two and half times India’s. In 2010 it was 15 times richer. This a country which handled 531 million tonnes of cargo in 2010 with only 276 square miles area having a little beyond a good harbor in 1960.

In airports of Dubai and Hong Kong bulk of their cargo is transshipment cargo which does not have to undergo customs clearance unlike in India where the transshipment component is an insignificant proportion of the total throughput handled. So comparison of dwell time of Indian airports with hub airports like Hong Kong, Dubai etc are not realistic. Indian airports must transform to international cargo hubs. They can adopt more systematic approach, observe international standards adopted at airports to achieve this. This is possible only if government and industry work together. It is evident that the future is bright for the air cargo sector. For developing the cargo hubs infrastructure and airlines have a great role to play. We have to translate ideas into action. Government look forward for ideas from the industry players to work together. But we need to look at the prevailing challenges in order to begin with a change.  INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMA IN LOGISTICS & TRANSPORT