The Indian Air Force (IAF) has a fleet of heavy transport aircraft like C-17 and C-130, IL-76, 78 and A-56 as well as squadrons of AN-32, HS-748, Dornier and Embraer. Yet on several occasions, it seeks the assistance of civil operators to ferry logistics of varying nature. Of course, this trend is nothing new. In the late 50s and early 60s, there were a couple private airlines like Jamair, Kalinga Airlines and Dalmia Airways based in Calcutta. They operated non-scheduled Dakota flights from Calcutta to several locations such as Bagdogra, Gauhati, Dimapur, Jorhat, Leelabari, Mohanbari (Dibrugarh), Tezpur, Imphal, Kumbhigram (Silchar), Agartala etc. in the north east.
Their Dakota aircraft were regularly availed by the Ministry of Defence for dropping of supplies in interior and forward areas, known as air maintenance. Although it was only in the mid-60s that the IAF fully took over these DZ (dropping zone) missions, civil operators extending military cargo service in India still continues. This is when specific consignments have to reach certain destinations and the different wings of defence services lack appropriate ways and means to transport them.
However, only certified and registered operators and agencies like the New Delhi-based Air Shagoon are permitted to undertake these tasks. For instance, this company airlifted equipment including armaments for the Indian troops deployed for UN Peace Keeping assignments in Africa and the Middle East. Likewise it undertakes transportation of supplies for the paramilitary services such as the Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Shastra Seema Bal, Central Reserve Police Force among others. Being one among the international cargo agencies in India, this company has been chartered to transport satellites of ISRO from Bangalore to Cayenne in French Guiana as and when they are launched from there. It also airlifted four Dhruv helicopters from HAL aerodrome in Bangalore to Ecuador’s GYE airport in South America.
