GMR Hyderabad International Airports and Ethopian Markets are connected

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GMR Hyderabad International Airport Gets Connected to Ethiopian Markets

30 April 2020

Over the last couple of decades, India and Ethiopia, two countries with a long-standing trade relationship have started strengthening ties through continuous economic and commercial partnerships. And, one such significant development around this came on April 26, 2020 when maiden cargo flight of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia got connected to GMR Hyderabad International Airport, Hyderabad, India. The Ethiopian flight ET 3612 (Arrivals)/ET 3613 (Departures) landed at Hyderabad International Airport on 26th April at 8.16 PM and departed at around 11.30 PM to Ethiopia.

With an expected frequency of one flight per week, Ethiopian Airlines will be operating Boeing 777-300 aircraft for this purpose with a capacity of 50 MT per flight. This new direct connection between Hyderabad and Ethiopia throws open new opportunities for Indian companies, located down south to explore and tap the benefits of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The dimensions of India-Ethiopia trade have boosted incredibly and with rapid technological innovation and huge capital investments coming into picture, noteworthy value is being created for both the economies. India is now among the top three foreign investors in Ethiopia with major investments made in textiles and garments, engineering, plastics, water management, consultancy and ICT, education, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. And as per Ministry of External Affairs, 2018 report, Indian investments in Ethiopia are estimated to be around $4 billion with 540 Indian companies present in the country.

Abundance of young talent, simple trade regime, cheap labour and power and strategic geographical location, makes Ethiopia the preferable destination for setting up apparel manufacturing base. By setting up garmenting facility there, Indian companies will not only add job opportunities for Ethiopian talent but will also boost the demands of Indian textiles around the world. Further, the companies can also leverage the benefits offered by Indian government as part of Make-in-India campaign and can also tap the duty-free trade access to U.S and European markets from Ethiopian lands.

Hyderabad, popularly known as the Pharma Hub of India accounts for 40 per cent of the total Indian bulk drug production and 50 per cent of the bulk drug exports. And, now with this direct route to Hyderabad, Ethiopian healthcare institutions will have the ease of importing bulk medical supplies from India. Further, the availability of special zone for handling Pharma related cargo at Hyderabad International Airport assures safe and secured transshipment of medicines.

Over the years, Hyderabad International Airport has enhanced its infrastructure and transshipment facilities to help boost trade and logistics. The airport has the distinction of building the first modular, integrated cargo facility in the country with 150,000 MT of cargo handling capacity per annum, which also houses India's first Pharma Zone, which is World Health Organisation's Good Storage and Distribution Practices (GSDP) certified and offers end-to-end temperature-controlled environment right from the Truck-Dock to the airside.