Speed Post services to improve; India Post to acquire 4 aircraft

New Delhi, June 1 (UNI) Faced with stiff and growing competition from private courier services, India Post plans to induct four freighter aircraft by the year-end for faster delivery of Speed Post services to major cities across the country.

Top officials of India Post told UNI that they are negotiating with Air India the lease of four aircraft in the Boeing series.

The service will benefit all agencies and sectors associated with mail, express, parcels and logistics.

The Department is seeking the comments and approval of various Ministries before the proposal goes before the Cabinet.

These include the Finance Ministry and External Affairs Ministry as well as the Planning Commission.

Air India offers seven Boeing aircraft for purposes of lease.

The sources said if for some reason or other the deal with Air India does not come through, then it will knock the doors of other leasing agencies.

The officials were hopeful that the entire process will be completed by December-end.

The cities where the new aircraft service will be deployed include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The sources said the lease could entail the use of aircraft in the night, provided logistics are worked out. It is during these hours that capacities remain under utilised.

The Department of Posts has been making concerted efforts to improve its mail network and infrastructure to provide a better quality of postal services to people, especially in the North East region.

In order to improve its mail delivery and transmission services in the North East region, the Department inducted a dedicated freighter aircraft -- Boeing 732-200 -- for carriage of mail, parcels and logistics to and from the region.

India Post will now fly on a higher pitch having first taken wings to take its services to the North East.

UNI SBA MP PM1118