“Commercial Aviation in India”

“Commercial Aviation in India” - Civil Aviation Week

The second day conference “Commercial Aviation in India” began with the inaugural speech of the Chairperson and Keynote Speaker, Mr. A.K. Chopra, the Deputy Director General of DGCA. The session began with the speech by Mr. Deepak Khajuria of Club One Air; he talked about the growth of business aviation in India. The increasing growth of aviation sector has to be monitored. The commercial aviation has risen to phenomenal growth, India had 135 aircrafts in last two years and the sector has decided upon adding 500 more to its fleet. He also focused on the traffic congestion, about 31% in the metros and 46% in non-metros. The airlines are focusing more on established sectors and cities only, due to which there is tremendous load on airports and infrastructure. Throwing light on Club One Air’s private aircraft sector, Mr. Khajuria informed, in India there are small charter operators, generally private aircraft are converted for corporate charters. There is an estimated business of 2,900 cr in the private charter industry and it should not be neglected. It’s a niche market, particularly for that section which needs hassle free and instant availability status. The value additional benefits of private aircraft are that it can fly to destinations not covered by scheduled airlines, has access to over 300 air strips covering large fleet of aircrafts. One can fly internationally in 48 hours notice. It involves one point contact and booking.

Capt Karan Singh, President, BAAI

Mr. Singh talked about the growth, opportunities and challenges in the General Aviation Sector. The General aviation sector is most neglected in the civil aviation industry. It is considered as a step child of aviation in India. There are no separate guidelines for general aviation. In India there is no concept of FBO’s, helicopters or GA terminals. He stated the reasons which have lead to the poor growth of general aviation.

Lack of infrastructure- There is non-availability of FBO’s, terminals.Restricted number of agencies for ground handling, non-availability of MRO’S and increasing cost of maintenance. There is no parking and the helicopters are operating out of airports.

Restrictive regulations- Too many agencies are involved in the procedure of getting a private aircraft such as MHA, MOCA, DGCA, BCAS, AAI. 25% of duty is only restricted only to the corporate aircrafts, which increases costs. The owner has to restrict himself to operational timings at Delhi and Mumbai, which renders private ownership useless. There are long procedures for operating foreign flights permit.

Lack of Manpower- There is shortage of pilots and engineers. In India there are 35 flying schools, which are not producing the required number of pilots. There is a demand of about 50,000 employees and 15000 engineers in the airline industry.

The general aviation sector still has large scope for growth, by the intervention of private players and the availability of the purchasing power among the classes. Financing has become easier, banks are ready to invest in this new sector and the change in mindset of the new generation leaders has a new rise for general aviation.

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