Challenge Group has established a scheduled route operating twice weekly between Mumbai (BOM) and Liège (LGG).

Utilising the added capacity of its second converted B767 freighter, the new scheduled flight creates a direct link between strong economic geographies with operations serving the whole of Europe and the US.

Offering a payload of 52 tonnes per uplift, the freighter will mainly carry pharmaceuticals and electronics as well as large and complex main deck cargo shipments.

Or Zak, chief commercial officer of Challenge Group, said: “Given that India is striving to become the factory of the world, and the production of key verticals has significantly increased during the past few years, our strategic decision to now launch a regular and direct India-Europe service goes some way towards satisfying the intense customer demand on this route.

“In fact, after the inaugural flight, we are already adding a second weekly frequency from April onwards.”

Zak added: “The launch of our Mumbai freighter service is the result of extensive market preparation conducted over the past year. This initiative commenced with consistent charter operations across various airports such as DEL, HYD, and BLR.

“Subsequently, we conducted a targeted roadshow in BOM and DEL last June, engaging with key stakeholders in the logistics industry to present our assets, capabilities, expertise, our supply chain approach and the value proposition of our end-to-end solution. This endeavour provided more insights into their business requirements.

“Our participation in the recent Air Cargo India event in February further solidified our presence and network within the sector, paving the way for the successful introduction of our Mumbai freighter service.”

Challenge Group’s Indian cargo capacity which is offered for bookings to the entire Indian freight forwarding community, is managed by the group’s GSSA partner, Rainbow Aviation.

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