The Air Cargo Association of Hyderabad celebrated its 22nd Annual Ball on August 6, 2023 at The Park Hyatt, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
This is the flagship event of the Air Cargo Association of Hyderabad, conducted every year, except for the last three years due to the pandemic and other related industry issues. The Association has over 150 members including representation from approximately 30 airlines, the custodian GMR, and other related stakeholders in the supply chain.
Deserving honourees
This year the Association honoured three senior members of the cargo trade for their significant contribution to the community. The Management Committee unanimously decided to felicitate Mrs Suchitra Choudhari, Mr Gautam Dey and Mr B. Govindarajan for their exemplary contribution to the air cargo community in Hyderabad
“The Air Cargo Club”, as it is affectionately known as, was formed with the objective of providing recreational and welfare activities for its members and their families. Further, after its inception in 2001, the Association decided to conduct various industry related training for cargo agents and shippers, which included training in Good Distribution/Storage Practice (GDP/GSP), as this community handles over 80% of pharmaceuticals for export from Hyderabad. The Association has also conducted awareness programmes, picnics and seminars, including a day-long training on “DG Packing” at the Indian Institute of Packaging.
This year’s grand celebration, such as the Air Cargo Club Ball, would not have been possible without donors like GMR Cargo, Air Shagoon, Aerosail, Global Aviation, Cargomen Logistics, Va-q tech India Private Limited, Emballiso India Private Limited, Far N Par, SRP Logistics, Hermes Travel, and Cargo and Gubba Cold Storage Private Limited, emphasised a release.
Association history
The Association was founded as the Air Cargo Club of Hyderabad in 2001, with the founder members comprising people from the trade and airline community. Some of them were C. S. Rajender, Joe Fernandez, Suchitra Choudhari, Subramanayam and Satish Lakkaraju. Regular programmes were conducted by the Management Committee, with the initial “knowledge sharing” sessions held every 2nd Saturday for beginners or new entrants into the trade. This continued till there was a shift to the new airport in Shamshabad; it was during the transition period that, with excellent support from GMR and other industry leaders/supporters, the Air Cargo Association became the first Air Cargo Club to build its very own premises on a piece of land measuring around six hundred square yards. This “Club House” was designed for the recreational and other related activities of the Club, with close proximity to the RGIA at Shamshabad.
Today the Air Cargo Association of Hyderabad is registered under Telengana State Government Societies Act and 100% tax compliant. During the early years of the Association, there were around 60 members, which has grown to over 150 members today – comprising freight forwarders and airlines.
Some of the future plans of the Association are to look at the possibility of incorporating “commercial members” including custodians, charter operators, trucking and cold storage companies, providers of passive and active solutions companies like Va-q tech, Emballiso, C-safe, Dokasch, Envirotainer, etc.
Management Committee
Currently, the Management Committee of the Association comprises President – C. S. Rajender – GBR; Vice President – K. Venugopal – Global Aviation; Vice President – T. Amaranth – Far N Par; Hon. General Secretary – Laurence Jacobi – Emirates SkyCargo; Treasurer – Ram Singh – HTL Logistics. The Committee Members are Tulasi D. Prasad – Transys Global Forwarding Pvt. Ltd; Anand Pillai – S R P Logistics; T. V. Vijay – Pro Cargo; Sudhakar – Sudarshan Cargo; P. Rajkumar – Emirates SkyCargo; and Sridhar – HTL Logistics.