Air inida Cargo Types

Air India's Cargo operation flies everything; to just about anywhere.

Not very surprising, when you consider how far and wide Indians have settled. Vast populations have settled in the Gulf, the US, UK, Africa and the Far East. It is to enable them to maintain links with their friends and families back home. And to let the entrepreneurs conveniently go about their business, that Air India has fine tuned its cargo services to their needs.

An active member of IATA, Air India carries all types of cargo including dangerous goods (hazardous materials) and live animals, provided such shipments are tendered according to IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and IATA Live Animals Regulations respectively.

So if you have something you'd like to fly down to or from India, but aren't sure if we will, here's the complete list of the airline's cargo operations.

Personal Effects
Air India entered the Guinness Book of Records for evacuating the largest number of civilians during the Gulf war in 1990. With them, logically came their bag and baggage in the form of unaccompanied baggage in the belly of our aircraft.

Foodstuff
To book unaccompanied baggage, please contact any of our offices. For facilitating you in Customs clearance for your unaccompanied baggage at Indian airports, you or your representative should approach Indian Customs at the airport through our office with the following:
a) Copy of Airway bill
b) Passenger's passport
c) Baggage Declaration Form (BDF), duly completed

Sentimental Shipments
We understand how traumatic it is to lose a dear one. That's why we make sure the mortal remains of the deceased are always carried with utmost care and concern.
Besides passport of the deceased, the following documents are required for carriage of sentimental cargo :
Death Certificate from a competent medical authority,
Embalming and Packaging Certificate, Certificate issued by the Ambassador or his representative (Nationality of the deceased) with the deceased's full name, age at the time of death, place of death and photocopy of passport details.
Photocopy of cancelled passport.
It is necessary that the above documents are made in English, otherwise the same should be translated in English.

Postal Mail
Air India is undoubtedly the major carrier of postal mail out of India. We have also successfully bagged postal contracts from various Foreign Postal Administrations for uplift of Postal mail from their countries. For any enquiries, you may contact our local offices in the countries concerned or mail us.

Odd-Sized Cargo
Do you have any odd sized cargo or heavy pieces to carry?
Don't worry. Like we handle valuables and livestock, we also possess expertise in logistics to carry heavy and odd-sized.

Dangerous Goods
India being an industrial and nuclear power, we regularly carry Dangerous Goods such as flammable, corrosive, poisonous and radioactive substances. Our Cargo staff is qualified under Dangerous Goods Regulations, to handle such consignments.

Valuables
In order to ensure security of your valuables, we have provided a container with a security locker, on flight. In fact, the entire operation of loading and unloading is carried out under the vigilant eyes of our Security personnel.

India's largest foreign exchange earner is gems and jewellery, for which Air India gets its due share. White and yellow metals are our frequent flyers and a woman's best friend, diamonds, are our regular companions. Our carriage of valuables is not only restricted to gems and jewellery but also transportation of exquisite museum artifacts and paintings.

Among other valuables, we once had the privilege of carrying exquisite paintings, the Padshahnama from Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle collections, dating back to the 17th Century Mughal period.

But we never forget that your life is more precious than all the riches of the world. And, at all times, we adhere to the strictest security for transportation of cargo on our flights. Either we ensure that the cargo is retained in our warehouse for 24 hours before loading on the flight, or the cargo is physically checked or x-rayed.

Livestock
Over the years, we have acquired considerable expertise in carriage of livestock such as elephants, tigers, leopards, horses, cattle and pets. Recently Air India transported two plane loads of high breed horses from Europe to India.

Tips for Unaccompanied Baggage
To book unaccompanied baggage, please contact any of our offices. For facilitating you in Customs clearance for your unaccompanied baggage at Indian airports, you or your representative should approach Indian Customs at the airport through our office with the following:
A) Copy of Airway bill
B) Passenger's passport
C) Baggage Declaration Form (BDF), duly completed

Mishandled Baggage
Any loss or damage to baggage must be reported immediately on arrival.
All mishandled baggage is traced through the worldwide computerized tracer system.
Passengers can check the status of their missing bag on this site

Couriers
Courier traffic is a rapidly growing market. Air India has been in the courier business transporting small packages and documents between destinations for years. As we now allow drop-off facility en-route, the on-board courier can carry courier loads to more than one destination, considerably saving on cost and time.