ACFI announces new governing board for 2022-24

Yashpal Sharma, Managing Director – Skyways Group has been named the new President of ACFI for this period. During the occasion, Cyrus Katgara, the former President handed over the mantle to the new president. Katgara will be part of the current board as Ex-Officio. He will continue supporting ACFI and helping it achieve its goals to boost the Indian economy.

Commenting on his new role as the newly elected President, Sharma said, "I would like to thank my co-founding members, past presidents, the ACFI secretariat and all board members of the past, for their invaluable and passionate contribution to ACFI and the air cargo community. It would be my foremost endeavour to work with the new board members and focus on achieving the vision and objectives of ACFI. While we have aligned ourselves to MoCA's target of 10 MMT by 2030-31, it would need a determined effort from all of us to galvanise process improvements, sync all stakeholders including government agencies and set short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and more importantly execute them to perfection within the set timelines."

A well-known name in the logistics industry, Sharma is the MD of Skyways Group which offers a wide spectrum of logistics and supply chain services including airfreight, ocean freight, road transport and express services to name a few. Skyways Group is an internationally renowned leading freight forwarding company. Sharma is also the former President of Air Cargo Club of Delhi (ACCD).

Sanjiv Edward, the newly elected ACFI Vice-President, said, "There is a huge shift in people's mindset in the logistics sector and they want to move towards ease of doing business. The industry will be strengthened by improved infrastructure and become more effective by adopting digitisation and with our PM's Gati Shakti the government of India is focusing immensely on the logistics and air cargo industry. Our aim is to position Air Cargo as the choicest mode of transportation in India and make it globally admired for its efficiency."

Prominent names from the air cargo industry make up the governing board for 2022-24, including Ramesh Mamidala, Chief Cargo Officer of Adani Airport Holdings Limited as the Hon. Secretary and Arun Kumar, Managing Director of InSynergy Supply Chain Solutions Private Limited as the Hon. Treasurer.

The "Air Cargo Forum India" – ACFI is an association of all key stakeholders of the air cargo logistics supply chain industry comprising airlines, airport operators, cargo terminal operators, freight forwarders, customs brokers, express industry, bonded truckers, etc. Its objective is to steer and promote the development of the air cargo and logistics industry in India and make it at par with the best air cargo ecosystems in the world. It is the only nationwide association that has industry stakeholder representation in the governing board. ACFI has been working very closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on its vision to achieve the goal of taking Indian air space to 10 million MT by 2030-31 from the current 3.1 million MT.

During the 10th ACFI Annual Event held in May 2022, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia stated that air cargo had started as an underdog during the pandemic, but it has now gone on to emerge as a game-changer and has ably adapted to the changing environment. It is now time for the entire cargo community to push the pedals harder and ensure they succeed in achieving the vision for 2030-31. He also appreciated the efforts of ACFI towards the growth of the Indian air cargo industry.