IndiGo has further strengthened its cargo business by appointing Mark Sutch as chief commercial officer for CarGo International.

The low-cost Indian airline said Sutch's appointment as its new chief commercial officer – CarGo International, was effective March 1, 2023.

IndiGo also cited Sutch's 25 years of airline industry experience across different verticals, including extensive cargo experience.

Prior to this appointment, Sutch was a chief commercial officer with CMA CGM Air Cargo based in Marseille.

He was also with Cathay Pacific Airways including being based for 5 years in Mumbai as the airline's Regional GM for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa and previously ran all commercial aspects of Cathay Pacific cargo division in their Hong Kong head office.

"Starting, March 1st, 2023, we are organizing the Cargo Business by having two business leaders for cargo, focusing on the domestic and international business, respectively," the announcement said.

It noted that Mahesh Kumar Malik, chief commercial officer – of CarGo Domestic, will continue leading the domestic market for our CarGo business.

"I am very excited with this opportunity at IndiGo. As the airline's international network and frequency grows, there is an opportunity for IndiGo to build world class cargo products and solutions using both its A321 freighters and extensive belly capacity," Sutch said of his new appointment.

"This will support India's growing air CarGo export and import demand. I look forward to being part of the great IndiGo success story."

Speaking on the new appointment, Pieter Elbers, chief executive officer, IndiGo said Sutch's "wealth of industry experience" will support IndiGo to further expand our cargo business.

"I would like to thank Mahesh for filling in the two cargo roles combined for the past period, and please join me in wishing Mahesh and Mark all the very best in their new roles in taking Cargo business for IndiGo to even greater heights," Elbers said.

Expanding cargo business

IndiGo inducted its first A321 CarGo freighter in November 2022, followed by the 2nd aircraft in December.

With consistent efforts on expansion, the airline said it operated its first domestic freighter flight between Delhi to Mumbai and first international flight between Kolkata to Yangon in November 2022.

"With IndiGo's continuous focus on expansion of our fleet and the significant opportunities and plans that we foresee in the cargo business, it has been decided that we will further strengthen and focus our cargo organization," the statement added.

IndiGo is amongst the fastest growing low-cost carriers in the world.

Currently, it has a fleet of over 300 aircraft and the airline is operating almost 1800 daily flights and connecting 78 domestic destinations and 26 international destinations.