Blue Dart opens its 7th Aviation Hub at Ahmedabad
- Connects to 6 major cities around country

Ahmedabad : June 06, 2006

Blue Dart, South Asia's largest air express, courier and package distribution company, today announced the opening of its Aviation Hub at Ahmedabad. The hub facility located at the cargo complex near the old airport will service the supply chain needs of businesses and industries in the Gujarat region. The facility has city side access and is equipped with the latest
in-house Xray equipment to ensure strict security and expedite processing of shipments.

Blue Dart is the country's first and to date only company with air-surface infrastructure. In 1996, it launched the country's first express airline, Blue Dart Aviation, with which it now has an agreement to provide dedicated air services. The air infrastructure has recently been reinforced with the induction of two Boeing 757 freighters into the existing fleet of five Boeing 737s. The company has added 21 route connections to its network increasing its reach to 60 route connections per night.

Malcolm Monteiro, Managing Director, Blue Dart Express Ltd., speaking on the occasion, said, "Gujarat is a growing manufacturing hub with planned infrastructure development. This will call for greater distribution of raw materials into and finished goods out of the region. For the period January to December 2005 we handled outbound loads of over 7,500 tonnes from Gujarat. This 7th aviation hub will facilitate faster transportation of larger loads to and from Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Rajkot and other satellite towns, with the flexibility of the new aviation gateway.

"The aviation hub is in line with our expansion plans. We are looking at this aviation hub to provide the required support to growing of industries like the Pharma, Dyes and Chemicals, and Textile in Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat with more efficient and faster connectivity to all the major metros." he added.

Gujarat, with the major distribution locations of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Vapi, Rajkot, Indore and Udaipur, is located in Blue Dart's West II region which also includes the whole of Madhya Pradesh. Blue Dart has recently started direct operations from Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Mehsana. Ahmedabad will be connected to the 6 online hubs of Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad extending Blue Dart's air route network and strengthening the distribution system throughout the country.

Tulsi Mirchandaney - Senior V.P - Marketing and Projects, Blue Dart Express Ltd. said, "A decade after we launched India's first express airline, we still have the only freighter services in the Indian skies. We continue to innovate for our customers, and the induction of the B757s is another development in this direction, to provide them with unmatched delivery support to their business"

About Blue Dart:

Blue Dart, South Asia's premier courier and integrated air express package Distribution Company, offers secure and reliable delivery of consignments to over 14,000 locations in India and 220 countries worldwide. Blue Dart was selected a Business Super brand from over 1699 brands across 169 product categories and a Readers Digest Most Trusted Brand across 42 product categories in India. The Blue Dart team drives marketplace leadership through its motivated people force, dedicated air capacity, cutting-edge technology, innovation and value-added services, to deliver unmatched standards of service quality to its customers

For further information contact :

marketing@bluedart.com
Dated : June 06, 2006