Delhi: Indian Post gets two new aircraft bearing the logo of India Post by first of July and will take off from Mumbai and Chennai. The Ministry of Communication has been leased these freighters from Air India for the benefit of India Post to speed up the process of delivery of stamped mails and sealed parcels to the respective destinations across the state. “The aim is to have a more reliable service”, says Manjula Parashar, Chief General Manager, Mail Business, at the postal directorate in Delhi.
Jitendra Bhargava, Spokesperson for Air India said that two of Air India’s old Boeing 737-200s, have been converted into freighters and its capacity is 15 tonnes each. These planes will connect cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Surat and Nagpur. The three cities namely Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta will act as hubs for overnight transmission of mails. Every night before the freighters leave their centers at around 11:30 pm, all mails from nearby cities will reach them. The three Boeings will then converge at Nagpur and exchange palettes (metal sheets which carry mails sorted according to destination cities). The aircraft will then fly back with their respective palettes. When they touch down at their centers early next morning, local distribution services like trucks, trains and other airlines will take over.
M S Bali, Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra and Goa said that with these new freighters, the Indian Post need not rely on other airlines fro distribution and have control over its means.
