Blue Dart opens outbound gateway

Hyderabad, June 8: With Hyderabad turning out to be the sought after destination by national and international business houses, Blue Dart, South Asia's largest air express, courier and package distribution company, today opened its outbound gateway here, with flights connecting the city to the rest of the country.

Looking at healthy growths from the southern region, from where it had handled 42,000 tonnes during 2005, the Company with dedicated flights, intended to add 14 more facilities in the South, including the hi-tech city and Vijayawada, its Managing Director Malcom Monteiro told a press conference here.

The company, a market leader with 39 per cent share, has inducted two Boeing 757s to existing fleet of five Boeing 737 freighters to increase its route network each night to 60 and earmarked Rs 25 crore for expansion this year and planned to add in all 45 facilities to its existing 217 facilities across the country, he said.

''The gateway will strengthen our distribution network, giving Blue Dart an edge in the express market for faster and seamless retrieval and dispatch of inbound and outbound loads. This will allow businesses to extend their production time and facilitate placing Hyderabad as a potential logistics hub for many industries in the country'', he said.

The company would also explore the scope for operating chartered flights during day time, he said.

UNI