Amazon Air takes off

NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad

Amazon India has launched Amazon Air, making it the first e-commerce company in the country to have a dedicated air cargo network.

Amazon Air aircraft will ship thousands of packages every day and fly to cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai. Amazon Air will help ship goods faster from its fulfilment centres to last-mile delivery points.

Amazon will use the complete carrying capacity of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Quikjet Cargo Airlines Private Limited.

Telangana’s Minister for industries and commerce KT Rama Rao was present at the induction ceremony of Quikjet’s new Amazon-branded aircraft along with Amazon’s senior leadership like Akhil Saxena, the Vice President, Customer Fulfilment (APAC, MENA & LATAM) and WW Customer Service, and Sarah Rhoads, the Vice President of Amazon Global Air in Hyderabad.

Amazon is the first e-commerce company in India to partner with a third-party air carrier to provide a dedicated air cargo network.

The company said that this reaffirms its long-term commitment to strengthening its transportation infrastructure in India.

Quikjet will transport Amazon customer shipments to cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai. The launch of Amazon Air in India reinforces the company’s commitment to continue building capacity to meet the needs of customers and to expand its transportation network for faster deliveries.

KTR noted that Amazon is the first e-commerce company in India to launch the dedicated air cargo network. It chose Telangana to launch Amazon Air outside North America and Europe, he said.

He said that Amazon’s love story with Hyderabad continues to grow. He pointed out that Hyderabad is already home to Amazon’s world’s largest campus and the AWS Data Centre has already announced an investment of 4.4 billion dollars by 2030. Amazon’s largest fulfilment centre in Asia is also in Hyderabad.

KTR said that Telangana offers a conducive environment for the development of multi-modal connectivity and that Hyderabad has emerged as a major hub for e-commerce distribution and supply chains.

“We have been working towards strengthening the state’s air cargo infrastructure, and we welcome the launch of Amazon Air which will assist in making Hyderabad a cargo hub for the country and will create additional employment opportunities in the state,” he said.

The minister said that Telangana and Hyderabad remained shining beacons in attracting investment. During the last eight years, the state attracted USD 47 billion dollars in investment. This excludes USD 2.6 billion committed by the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.