Skyways earns 77% of FY26 revenue from air cargo services

Skyways Air Services Limited earned 77.02% of FY26 revenue from operations from air cargo services, amounting to Rs 2,166.3987 crore. Skyways functions as a freight forwarder: it obtains carrier quotations, applies a predetermined markup and coordinates pickup, customs clearance, consolidation, delivery and billing rather than carrying cargo as an airline.

Why does air cargo dominate Skyways' FY26 revenue?

Air cargo dominates Skyways' FY26 revenue because it generated Rs 2,166.3987 crore, or 77.02% of revenue from operations, against Rs 422.6032 crore from ocean cargo, the next-largest category. The air-cargo share increased from 72.99% in FY25, although it remained below the 79.20% reported in FY24. This means air freight regained share in FY26 as its revenue rose by Rs 525.6331 crore from FY25.

Skyways reported total revenue of Rs 2,812.8989 crore in FY26, compared with Rs 2,247.8249 crore in FY25 and Rs 1,289.1101 crore in FY24. Sale of services accounted for Rs 2,811.4110 crore, or 99.95%, of FY26 total revenue, while e-commerce and other retail product sales accounted for Rs 1.4879 crore, or 0.05%. The revenue base was therefore principally derived from logistics services.

Ocean cargo supplied 15.02% of FY26 operating revenue, express cargo and parcel supplied 5.79%, and trucking supplied 1.38%. Trucking revenue fell to Rs 38.6835 crore in FY26 from Rs 60.5130 crore in FY25, while value-added-services revenue rose to Rs 17.2644 crore from Rs 6.1693 crore. These categories broaden the offering, but the FY26 mix remained concentrated in air cargo.

How does Skyways make money from carrier procurement?

Skyways makes money by sourcing transport capacity and related services from carriers, adding a predetermined markup to carrier quotations and charging customers the resulting price. A freight forwarder arranges cargo movement through transport providers instead of operating the aircraft or shipping line. Skyways says customers seek prices for forwarding, customs clearance and transport between the shipper, port and importer facility.

The procurement process requires Skyways to solicit quotations from carrier operators, negotiate terms and select a service option for a shipment. Skyways reported business relationships with 56 airlines in FY26, compared with 50 in FY25 and 44 in FY24. Its performance-based agreements included Emirates, Saudi Cargo, Air India Cargo, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways, although the Qatar Airways arrangement was described as being in the process of renewal.

The model depends on carrier capacity, quoted rates, negotiated terms and conversion of customer enquiries into completed shipments. Skyways holds International Air Transport Association, or IATA, accreditation and said World ACD Market Data ranked it No. 1 in air waybill generation from India in calendar years 2022 through 2025. An air waybill, or AWB, is the carriage document for air cargo; Skyways uses a house AWB between the consignor and Skyways and a master AWB between Skyways and the airline.

What does Skyways do between booking and delivery?

Skyways performs an end-to-end coordination role from pickup to destination distribution, while the airline carries the air leg. After receiving shipping instructions, Skyways manages collection from the consignor, transport to a warehouse or airport warehouse, document preparation, customs processes, cargo consolidation and bookings. It offers door-to-airport and airport-to-airport services, as well as logistics planning and technology-integration services.

For an air shipment, Skyways prepares the AWB and cargo manifest after receiving a shipper letter of instruction, commercial invoice and packing list. The cargo manifest records transport details for palletised and consolidated cargo. Hazardous shipments require a dangerous-goods certificate covering classification, packaging and labelling under IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations, while perishable goods can require specialised handling.

Skyways prepares export and import customs declarations containing quantity, weight, declared value and destination, using invoices and packing lists as supporting documents. It says cargo is often consolidated into unit load devices, or ULDs, which are aircraft cargo containers or pallets. At destination, the airline unloads cargo at the airport terminal, after which Skyways can arrange clearance and final-mile distribution if requested.

What scale supports Skyways' air-freight model?

Skyways handled 83,923.81 tonnes of air cargo in FY26, compared with 58,605.58 tonnes in FY25 and 48,013.16 tonnes in FY24. Export cargo accounted for 69,780.32 tonnes in FY26, imports accounted for 7,601.28 tonnes and foreign subsidiaries accounted for 6,542.21 tonnes. Export shipments therefore represented about 83% of the FY26 air-cargo volume.

Skyways supports freight operations with five warehouses and a 318-square-foot cold-storage facility located 60 metres from the air cargo terminal at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The group also reported operations in 12 countries including India and eight overseas subsidiaries. Asia generated Rs 2,405.1548 crore, or 85.51%, of FY26 revenue, compared with 83.07% in FY25, indicating regional revenue concentration.

How is Skyways extending its freight-forwarding model?

Skyways is extending its freight-forwarding model through technology, service additions and proposed infrastructure, although these initiatives do not change the FY26 air-cargo concentration. Skyways acquired sGate Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in 2020 and uses platforms including SLS HIKE, SLS 100X and Cargo Dash. SLS HIKE supports shipment tracking, pricing and electronic AWBs and is integrated with more than 40 airlines and more than 25 shipping lines.

ASAP, or Any Shipping Any Place, was in pre-launch and had not been commercially rolled out when disclosed. The platform is designed for freight-rate discovery, booking and shipment management across air freight, ocean freight and courier express, while the relevant group entity would execute the underlying service. Skyways states that SLS 100X is not a transaction-based or revenue-generating platform and customers are not charged to use it.

Skyways also disclosed plans to add non-express freight, domestic air cargo, urban last-mile distribution and temperature-controlled logistics. It entered a consortium with Swissport International AG to bid for a cargo terminal at Kolkata airport on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer, or DBFOT, basis. The bid validity was extended to August 14, 2026, and the disclosure does not establish that the project was awarded.

Conclusion

Skyways' FY26 revenue composition identifies it principally as an air-freight intermediary with a broad execution role. Air cargo produced 77.02% of operating revenue, while the company’s carrier-procurement model combines quoted transport capacity with a markup and operational coordination across documentation, customs, consolidation and distribution.

The next updates to watch are the commercial rollout of ASAP, development of SLS 100X 2.0 and any decision on the Kolkata DBFOT terminal bid following its August 14, 2026 validity extension. The persistence of the FY26 revenue mix will also depend on air-cargo volumes, airline relationships and the development of ocean, express, domestic-air and temperature-controlled services.