Belly cargo space carried 80.5% of India's air freight market

Belly cargo space carried 80.5% of India’s air cargo in FY2024-25, compared with 19.5% carried as dedicated cargo. The split shows that India’s air-freight system remained principally reliant on underfloor holds in passenger aircraft, even after dedicated cargo’s share rose from its FY2022-23 low.

What share of India’s air cargo moved in belly cargo space?

Belly cargo space accounted for 80.5% of India’s air-cargo market in FY2024-25, leaving dedicated cargo with 19.5%. Belly cargo space is the underfloor cargo hold of a passenger aircraft, while a freighter is an aircraft dedicated to carrying cargo. The 80.5% share means more than four-fifths of air shipments used capacity that is available beneath passenger flights rather than main-deck capacity on dedicated freighters.

The FY2024-25 result was 0.9 percentage points below the 81.5% belly-cargo share recorded in FY2022-23, but remained 4.9 percentage points above FY2020-21’s 75.6%. Dedicated cargo moved in the opposite direction over those periods: its share fell from 24.4% in FY2020-21 to 18.5% in FY2022-23, then increased by 1.0 percentage point to 19.5% in FY2024-25. The disclosure describes the data as the latest available as of December 2025.

Why do passenger aircraft provide most Indian air-freight capacity?

Passenger aircraft provide most air-freight capacity because airlines can sell available underfloor hold space alongside passenger services. Passenger airlines use belly cargo space as an additional revenue stream, and the capacity can carry high-value, time-sensitive and perishable goods. This model links cargo availability to passenger aircraft operations, aircraft configuration, baggage allowances and demand for freight.

Passenger baggage is the principal stated constraint on belly cargo space. A typical domestic baggage allowance is 15 kilograms per passenger; on an aircraft carrying 200 passengers, that allowance represents 3,000 kilograms of baggage. Cargo can use only the residual capacity after passenger baggage and operational requirements are accommodated, so a fuller passenger load or greater baggage volume can reduce freight room even where shipper demand exists.

How much cargo can passenger aircraft carry below deck?

Narrow-body passenger aircraft can carry up to 6 tonnes in their belly compartments, while wide-body aircraft can often carry more than 20 tonnes. Narrow-body aircraft are commonly used on domestic and short-haul international services, whereas wide-body aircraft operate long-haul and international flights. Actual available capacity depends on the aircraft configuration and the baggage load, not merely the aircraft category.

The difference between aircraft types matters because India’s 80.5% belly-cargo share is a market share rather than a fixed volume of cargo per flight. A wide-body aircraft with capacity exceeding 20 tonnes can offer materially more below-deck freight space than a narrow-body aircraft capped at up to 6 tonnes. Freight-dedicated aircraft focus on maximising main-deck capacity, with their belly area serving as additional cargo space, creating a distinct capacity model from passenger operations.

What does the 80.5% belly-cargo share mean for India’s air freight?

The 80.5% belly-cargo share means India’s air freight depends substantially on passenger-flight capacity, despite dedicated freighters retaining a 19.5% share in FY2024-25. This is a concentrated capacity structure within air cargo: passenger airline holds carried 61.0 percentage points more of the market than dedicated cargo. The relationship can persist only while passenger networks, usable hold capacity, baggage allocation and cargo demand continue to support the available space.

Air transport itself represented 0.40% of India’s total freight movement, according to the disclosed modal split. Road transport accounted for about 66%, rail for around 22%, water transport for about 8%, and pipelines for 3.60%. Air freight is therefore a small part of total freight movement by share, but it is used primarily for goods for which speed, security and shorter lead times are relevant, including pharmaceuticals, electronics and perishables.

India’s air-freight scale was reported at 1.2 million metric tonnes in FY26 from April to July 2025, alongside passenger traffic of 96.54 million in the same period. The passenger figure is relevant to belly cargo space because passenger aircraft generate the hold capacity on which the 80.5% FY2024-25 share relied. The airport network was reported to have grown from 74 airports in 2014 to 165 by 2026, with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad identified as major air-cargo hubs.

Which operating limits could change belly-cargo utilisation?

Baggage allocation, load balancing and regulatory compliance can change belly-cargo utilisation on each passenger flight. The stated 15-kilogram domestic baggage allowance and 200-passenger example show how 3,000 kilograms can be allocated to baggage before additional cargo is loaded. High-density passenger routes can therefore have less residual freight room, even though the aircraft’s hold is designed to carry both baggage and cargo.

Aircraft safety requirements also limit how cargo is placed and carried. Cargo distribution must meet aircraft weight-and-balance requirements, while weight restrictions and security screening requirements affect handling and operating efficiency. These rules mean capacity cannot be treated as a simple empty-space calculation: the freight loaded must be consistent with the aircraft’s permitted operating conditions and cargo regulations.

The disclosed future measures are cargo-handling technology, automated loading systems and real-time tracking solutions, which are intended to improve belly-cargo efficiency. Airlines may also introduce flexible baggage policies to optimise available space while retaining passenger convenience. Separately, dedicated cargo terminals and perishable-cargo centres are being developed at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru under airport cargo and connectivity expansion efforts, supporting capacity for e-commerce, high-value goods and pharmaceutical exports.

Conclusion

India’s FY2024-25 air-cargo structure was led by belly cargo space at 80.5%, after its share rose from 75.6% in FY2020-21 and eased from 81.5% in FY2022-23. Dedicated cargo’s 19.5% share confirms that freighters remain part of the system, but the 61.0-percentage-point gap shows passenger aircraft holds remained the principal source of air-freight carriage.

The next measure to watch is whether the disclosed investment in cargo terminals, perishable centres, automated loading and real-time tracking changes the split between passenger-belly and dedicated capacity. Passenger traffic reached 96.54 million in April-July FY26, so the availability of passenger flights, baggage policies and aircraft mix will remain central unresolved variables for belly-cargo capacity.