Read or download the official PDF of this gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 19th August 2026. Classified under Press Release.
Executive Summary
On August 19, 2026, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation flagged off the expanded phase of India’s transshipment cargo reform at Delhi’s IGI Airport. Following a successful Proof of Concept that reduced transit times from 60 to 20 hours, the reform eliminates mandatory re-screening for transshipment cargo to reduce costs and congestion. The initiative expands the network to four new domestic origins and two international destinations to position India as a global cargo hub.
Key Points / Main Content
Regulatory and Operational Reforms
Elimination of Re-screening: Mandatory re-screening of transshipment cargo has been removed to address a major industry bottleneck, reducing turnaround times and handling costs.
Security Framework: Under Addendum-II to AVSEC Circular No. 6/2024 (issued July 21, 2025), secured cargo can move through dedicated Transfer Cargo Security Hold Areas (TCSHAs) without re-screening, subject to safeguards.
Transit Efficiency: The Proof of Concept (PoC) on the Chennai–Delhi–Frankfurt route demonstrated a reduction in end-to-end transit time from 60 hours to 20 hours.
Network Expansion
New Domestic Origins: The framework now includes Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.
New International Destinations: Service has expanded to include London and Copenhagen.
Future Scope: Plans are underway to expand the framework to include International-to-International and International-to-Domestic transshipment.
Performance and Growth Projections
Capacity Utilization: Aircraft capacity utilization during the PoC phase rose from 75% to nearly 100%.
Volume Increase: Monthly cargo carriage on the expanded lanes is projected to grow by nearly 80%, increasing from 1,763 MT to 3,183 MT.
Impact Analysis
Air India and Other AirlinesImpact
Airlines benefit from significantly higher aircraft capacity utilization and a projected 80% increase in monthly cargo carriage volume.
Action Required
Scale up cargo operations across the newly added domestic and international lanes while maintaining end-to-end service standards.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and AAIImpact
Increased cargo throughput at the Transshipment Excellence Centre (TEC) and reduced congestion at cargo terminals.
Action Required
Manage the increased volume of transshipment cargo and maintain the infrastructure for the "hub-and-spoke" model.
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), CISF, and CustomsImpact
Regulatory and security bodies must pivot from mandatory re-screening to monitoring secured movements through TCSHAs.
Action Required
Enforce prescribed security safeguards and ensure compliance with the revised AVSEC circular frameworks.
Domestic Cargo Markets (Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad)Impact
These regions gain faster, more cost-effective access to international markets through the Delhi hub.
Action Required
Align local cargo logistics with the new transshipment framework to leverage reduced transit times.
Key Entities Referenced
AVSEC Circular No. 6/2024: A regulatory framework issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security that permits the movement of secured transshipment cargo without mandatory re-screening.
Transshipment (TP) cargo reform: An initiative aimed at reducing turnaround times and handling costs by eliminating the re-screening process for cargo moving between domestic and international routes.
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS): The aviation security regulator responsible for notifying the security safeguards and revised frameworks for transshipment cargo.
Ram Mohan Naidu: Union Minister for Civil Aviation who oversaw the expansion of the transshipment reform and its scaling up to new domestic and international destinations.
IGI Airport, Delhi: The primary location for the pilot and scaled-up phase of the cargo reform, housing the Transshipment Excellence Centre (TEC) at Terminal 2.
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu flags off
Transshipment Cargo Operations at Delhi's IGI
Airport
After successful Proof of Concept, Minister expands
Transshipment reform to 2 new international & 4 new
domestic destinations
प्रव तथ: 19 AUG 2026 9:06PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Ram Mohan Naidu today flagged off the scaled-up phase of India’s
transshipment (TP) cargo reform at Delhi International Airport Limited’s (DIAL) Transshipment
Excellence Centre (TEC), IGI Airport, Terminal 2.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ram Mohan Naidu said, “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi, we are continuously working to strengthen Ease of Doing Business in the aviation
sector. Based on industry feedback, we identified long-standing requirement of mandatory re-screening of
transshipment cargo, as a key bottleneck. By doing away with it we can significantly reducing turnaround
time, handling costs and congestion at cargo terminals. And Proof of Concept exercise on the Chennai–
Delhi–Frankfurt route has successfully established that by reducing average end-to-end transit time from
60 hours to just 20 hours”.Proof of Concept for Domestic-to-International transshipment commenced on 20 June 2026 on the
Chennai–Delhi–Frankfurt sector using DIAL’s TEC, with Air India operating the service end-to-end. Since
its launch, the PoC transshipped 280 MT of cargo, with aircraft capacity utilization rising from 75% to
nearly 100%.
Based on the success of the PoC, the network was today expanded to four additional domestic origin
stations; Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Hyderabad along with two new international destinations;
London and Copenhagen. The expanded network is projected to increase Air India’s monthly cargo
carriage on these lanes from 1,763 MT to 3,183 MT, an increase of nearly 80%.Shri Ram Mohan Naidu said, “We are now scaling up this successful model by connecting four more
major domestic cargo markets and two new international destinations. While our immediate focus is on
Domestic-to-International transshipment, our larger ambition is to position India as a global cargo
transshipment hub by leveraging our strategic location between the East and the West. Subsequently, we
will expand this framework to International-to-International and International-to-Domestic transshipment
as well.”
The Minister added, “The reform is part of the Government’s broader vision of developing major Indian
airports into global transit hubs. Following the strengthening of hub-and-spoke operations for passengers,
the Government is now taking similar steps to build India’s air cargo hub capabilities”.
Earlier through the revised framework, notified through Addendum-II to AVSEC Circular No. 6/2024 by
the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on 21 July 2025, it was permitted to move secured
transshipment cargo through dedicated Transfer Cargo Security Hold Areas (TCSHAs) without re-
screening, subject to prescribed security safeguards.
The Minister congratulated all stakeholders involved in the successful rollout, including DIAL, BCAS,
CISF, airlines, Customs for working together to remove a critical bottleneck and improve the
competitiveness of India’s air cargo ecosystem.
Additional origin stations and international destinations are planned to be brought under the framework in
the coming months, further strengthening India’s position as a globally competitive aviation and cargo
hub.
The event was attended by Shri Samir Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Shri Vipin
Kumar, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI); Shri Asangba Chuba Ao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Civil Aviation; Ms. Pratibha Ambedkar, Joint DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS); and senior
officials from MoCA, AAI, BCAS, DIAL, Air India and other stakeholders.
****
Divyanshu Kumar
(रलीज़ आईडी: 2301373) आगंतुक पटल : 1290
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