New Delhi: To swell its air and ground infrastructure, integrated express courier and package distribution company, Blue Dart Express has decided to invest Rs. 1,000 crore in the next five to eight years. The investment will be funded through internal accruements.

The company has also launched its ground express service, Surfaceline, in India providing back-to-back express distribution solutions escalating its coverage from 14,600 to 17,500 locations.

While addressing a press conference, Anil Khanna, Blue Dart Managing Director said, “The money will be utilised in expanding our aircraft fleet, add material handling equipment and technology, and ramp up ground handling facilities. All the money invested will come from internal accruals. We plan to increase our market share from two to three times in the next five to eight years to achieve market leadership.”

At present, the company operates four Boeing 737s and two Boeing 757s. It will add one Boeing 757 in the latter part of the year, added Mr. Khanna.

Tulsi Mirchandaney, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Projects, said, “Every time we see a demand in the market and our load factors go up to about 85 percent, we put in new aircraft, because it is an expensive capital investment.”

"Currently we have a very modest 5.8 percent market share in the ground express segment. We plan to take it to about 20 percent in the next five to eight years," Khanna said.