Air India Air Cargo Profile

Air India traces its roots to Tata Airlines, founded by J.R.D. Tata in 1932, and later became India's state-owned flag carrier before returning to Tata Group ownership in 2022. Singapore Airlines holds a minority 25.1 percent stake following the merger of Vistara into Air India. The airline joined Star Alliance in 2014 as its 27th member and is headquartered in Gurugram, near Delhi. Its cargo arm, branded Air India Cargo, is one of India's oldest air-freight operations and today handles freight primarily through the belly holds of the mainline passenger fleet.

Air India Cargo once ran dedicated freighters, operating aircraft such as the Boeing 747, Airbus A310, Douglas DC-8 and, in its final years, a small fleet of Boeing 737-200 freighters. Those all-cargo operations were wound down in 2012, and the division has since concentrated on belly cargo carried under passenger aircraft. The current widebody fleet of Airbus A350, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft provides the bulk of international lift, while A320-family jets carry domestic and regional freight across a dense Indian network feeding the main gateways.

The carrier's principal cargo gateways are Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM) and Chennai (MAA), connecting India with the Middle East, Europe, North America and the wider Asia-Pacific. Under Tata ownership Air India has set out to sharply grow cargo, targeting roughly a threefold rise in annual capacity toward about two million tonnes over five years, driven by large incoming widebody orders including A350-1000, Boeing 787 and Boeing 777X aircraft. The airline has also signalled interest in reviving dedicated freighter operations through a separate cargo entity, though belly capacity remains the core of the business.