<p data-path-to-node="2"><b data-path-to-node="2" data-index-in-node="0">NEW DELHI —</b> Air India Cargo, the dedicated freight division of the Tata Group-backed flag carrier, in close technical collaboration with Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), has officially commissioned a state-of-the-art, 15,000-square-meter automated express courier and cross-border parcel sorting terminal at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.</p><p data-path-to-node="3">The newly activated airside terminal is purpose-built to address the structural bottlenecks associated with fast-growing international e-commerce dispatches, cross-border express documents, and time-critical small parcel flows. With daily processing capacity scaled to handle more than 120,000 individual packages, the specialized facility establishes an uninterrupted, high-velocity sorting pipeline linking landside intake docks directly to outbound international aircraft positions.</p><p data-path-to-node="4">Historically, courier shipments and consolidated express bags moving through the capital gateway were handled within mixed-use cargo sheds alongside general heavy freight, requiring extensive manual break-bulk operations, piecewise hand-scanning, and sequential customs examinations. These legacy workflows frequently caused ramp staging dwell times to extend between 8 and 14 hours, forcing express forwarders and e-commerce aggregators to build wide delivery buffers into their delivery promises.</p><p data-path-to-node="5">Under the new operational architecture, the terminal features high-throughput optical character recognition (OCR) camera tunnels, omnidirectional barcode readers, and automated cross-belt sorters capable of categorizing packages by destination hub, airline flight number, and container stowage priority at speeds of up to 2.5 meters per second. The handling floor integrates five automated dual-view high-energy X-ray inspection lines certified by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), facilitating instantaneous security clearances for sealed bags without requiring manual unpacking.</p><p data-path-to-node="6">The infrastructure features dedicated, round-the-clock clearance bays integrated directly with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Express Cargo Clearance System (ECCS) and ICEGATE 2.0. By linking real-time manifest data to automated electronic risk-management algorithms, over 85% of standard compliant parcels achieve instant digital Out-of-Charge status while transitioning along sorting belts. Any unit flagged for valuation or physical spot-check is dynamically diverted onto isolated, secure inspection conveyors monitored by closed-circuit surveillance.</p><p data-path-to-node="7">On the airside, the facility features direct, weather-protected vehicle transfer bays and roller-bed staging corridors. Built Unit Load Devices (ULDs) and express courier bags transition seamlessly from sorting belts onto specialized electric tugs and motorized dollies, providing Air India Cargo and its interline airline partners with rapid apron-loading access to widebody passenger flights and dedicated night freighters departing for Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Dubai, and Southeast Asian distribution hubs.</p><p data-path-to-node="8">Senior executives from Air India Cargo and DIAL emphasized that the terminal functions as a key catalyst under the National Logistics Policy to compress export turnaround intervals and lower transaction overheads for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tapping international consumer markets.</p><p data-path-to-node="9">By compressing end-to-end terminal transit cycles from over half a day to under 90 minutes, the hub equips international express integrators, postal authorities, and cross-border retailers with the predictable, flight-synchronized infrastructure needed to support high-cadence global delivery schedules.</p>