MIA: Only U.S. Airport Sponsoring Air Cargo India 2018

    Feb. 13, 2018
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    Miami International Airport will be the only U.S. airport sponsor of Air Cargo India 2018. The largest air cargo exhibition and networking conference in India, organized by The STAT Trade Times, will take place February 20 to 22 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai.

    The sponsorship is part of MIA’s ongoing outreach to India, MIA’s fourth-busiest Asian cargo market at $234 million in trade annually - despite not having nonstop Miami service. Most notably, India is also MIA’s largest source of pharmaceutical product imports by volume, accounting for 616,971 kilograms in 2016, at a value of $52 million.

    MIA’s sponsorship includes hosting a roundtable on Feb. 22 moderated by Miami-Dade Aviation Department Trade and Logistics Manager Emir Pineda, which will discuss how industry collaborations create efficient and profitable air cargo supply chains. In the last two years, MIA has helped launched successful cargo industry partnerships such as: MIA’s first e-commerce workshop with more than 30 local air cargo industry stakeholders in January, with the goal of establishing Miami-Dade County as one of the world’s leading e-commerce hubs; Florida’s first-ever ocean-to-air perishables trans-shipment program last February, which allows perishable freight from local seaports to be trucked to MIA and depart by air without Customs duties; and MIA’s Pharma Hub Airport designation by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the first in the U.S. and 2nd in the world.

    MIA earned the IATA designation for organizing a community of logistics companies that are certified under IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) program. In 2017, four MIA Pharma Hub partners became CEIV Pharma-certified and two additional members of MIA’s cargo community also were certified, for a total of six companies.  MIA’s pharma trade has grown in value from $1.8 billion 2010 to $4.4 billion in 2016.

    “We look forward to strengthening our ties with the Indian cargo industry at this year’s Air Cargo India event,” said Miami-Dade Aviation Department Chief of Staff Joseph Napoli. “The Indian economy - one of the world’s largest in gross domestic product – already generates substantial cargo traffic for MIA, and we hope to spur increased growth through new partnerships and eventually, nonstop routes with India.”