New Indian cargo firm places $1 bn order

The Boeing 777 Freighter is a twin-engine freighter, with a payload capability of 103 metric tons and a range of 9,065 km. The freighter service will, however, get off the ground by the end of this year with the help of three leased Airbus MDL aircraft. ‘‘We will start of this service with three leased aircraft and plan to add an additional three over a period of time,’’ he said.

The airline will start its operations from Hyderabad and will be targetting international cargo movement, especially to regions like China and West Asia.

The airline is financed by a group of Hyderabad-based promoters led by T Venkatrama Reddy from the Deccan Chronicle Group. The official said that the initial capital outlay for getting the service off the ground would be $50 million which will be put in by the promoters.

‘‘We plan to become the most efficient airline operating out of India and the third largest in Asia in the next three years. We are also exploring various avenues of raising capital to fund our growth,’’ he said.

The entry of Flyington marks the growing lucrativeness of the Indian cargo market. There are atleast three other cargo airlines waiting in the wings including Shreyas Shipping & Logistics, First Flight Couriers and TNT India.

The deal signed by Flyington is the fourth one signed by an Indian company at the airshow. Indian carriers including GoAir, Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan have signed deals worth over $2 billion at the Air Show.