Telangana MAUD Minister K Taraka Rama Rao formally launched Amazon Air at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) today. He said that it would strengthen Amazon’s distribution network and enable faster delivery to customers.
To establish its first air freight service in the nation, Amazon has teamed up with the Bengaluru-based Quikjet cargo airline. The company intends to use a Boeing 737-800 plane’s entire cargo capacity and make deliveries to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi.
“This is the first time that Amazon Air is being launched outside North America and Europe and India and Hyderabad gets to host the event,” KTR said and further added that Amazon’s largest fulfillment footprint in Asia was also in Hyderabad.
He further expressed hope that the global e-commerce platform would continue to include more artisans, artists and handloom weavers in its direct sellers list on Amazon.
Right now, Amazon is working with Telangana’s Handlooms department in helping more than 4500 weavers in 56 villages across the State.
KTR stated that the aviation and aerospace industry was growing on a faster pace in the state due to its progressive measures.
Air traffic was increasing rapidly at RGIA. KTR asserted that air cargo traffic also increased by 35 percent in 2020-21.
Vice President, worldwide customer service at Amazon Akhil Saxena said, “This launch will support 1.1 million sellers in India.”
“We continue to invest in speed as we have invested in delivery infrastructure to strengthen the delivery network. This will help ship goods faster from our fulfilment centres to last-mile deliveries,” he added.
Praveen PA, Director of Aerospace and Defence; Akhil Saxena, Vice President, Customer Fulfilment (APAC, MENA & LATAM) & WW Customer Service, Amazon; Sarah Rhoads, Vice President, Amazon Global Air; Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Public Policy, Amazon India; Raoul Sreenivasan, Director, Amazon Global AIR Planning, Performance & Cargo; Abhinav Singh, Director, FC, Supply Chain & GSF attended the launch event.