Introduction
Aviation normally connotes a dichotomous division into:
Civil Aviation
General Aviation.
Civil aviation is further classified into:
Military
Government and airline companies (airliners).
General Aviation deals with private aircraft owners, aircrafts of companies, flying clubs, small taxi operators etc. Thus, General Aviation includes all aircrafts not flown by the government and airline companies called scheduled operators and/or the military.
General Aviation (GA) is also regarded as a catalyst for economic growth. Businesses that use general aviation have been demonstrated to achieve competitive advantage, while communities gain occupations and access to the country’s extended air transportation system.
It benefits the users of transportation services and also the country’s economy at large. Zinc heightens the efficiency and productivity of businesses by reduction of travel time that would be required to drive in order to use more congested commercial airports. It provides practicing most new pilots.
Companies/ Government Agencies may use airplanes/ helicopter to:
For corporate Use
Offshore purposes especially helicopters
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Disaster Management
The most recent statistics for the civil aviation sector depict:
FDI as much as 100 per cent is allowed underneath the automatic route for Greenfield projects.
For existing projects, FDI up to 100 per cent is allowed; while investment up to 74 per cent under the automatic route and beyond 74 percent under the government route.
The Indian aviation market is one of the fastest-growing aviation industries on the planet with private airlines comprising more than 75 percent of the sector of the domestic aviation market (by 2006). A substance annual rate of growth (CAGR) of 18 per cent and 454 airports and airstrips in place in the united states, of which 16 are designated as air-ports, the time has come to watch the increasing development of aviation sector.
Today, the overall aviation sector is most neglected within the civil aviation industry. It’s treated like a step child of aviation in India. There aren’t any separate guidelines for general aviation. In India there is no concept of FBO’s (Fixed Base Operator), helicopters or GA (General Aviation) terminals. Maximum use of General Aviation is within corporate charters, then offshore operations through helicopters, tourism etc. In the private charter industry itself it comes with an estimated business of Rs.2900 crores also it shouldn’t be neglected. General Aviation in India is a very specialized niche, especially since it is straight forward and has instant availability status. The value additional benefits of private aircraft are that it can fly to destinations not included in scheduled airlines, can access over 400 air strips (Only 90 are operational right now). The versatility of helicopters of reaching where nothing else can is not being exploited to its best potential.
The reasons which have result in the poor growth of general aviation are mainly:
Insufficient infrastructure- There is non-availability of FBO’s (Fixed Base Operator), terminals. The numbers of agencies for ground handling are extremely restricted, there’s non-availability of MRO’S (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) and increases price of maintenance. There isn’t any separate parking and also the helicopters are operating out of airports. There are no heliports and heli-routes in India till date.
Restrictive regulations- A lot of agencies take part in the process of getting a private aircraft for example Secretary of state for Home Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and Airport Authority of India. 25% of duty is only restricted simply to the corporate aircrafts, which increases costs. The dog owner needs to restrict himself to operational timings at major metros, which renders private ownership useless.
Insufficient Manpower- There’s shortage of pilots and engineers. In India you will find 35 flying schools, which are not producing the necessary number of pilots. There is a need for about 50,000 employees and 15000 engineers within the airline industry.
The overall aviation sector still has large scope for growth, through the intervention of non-public players and the availability of the purchasing power among the classes. The Business Aviation Association of India estimates that general aviation for the reason that country will probably grow by 30% to 40%. Using more than 700,000 Indians comprising a cumulative wealth of $3 billion, this comes as no surprise. Deregulation, availability of finances, eased regulations for foreign investment in Indian companies, and paradoxically, the painful connection with travel on a commercial jet are driving this growth.
The Road Ahead
Investment opportunities of US$ 110 billion are now being envisaged up to 2020 with US$ 80 billion towards new aircraft and US$ 30 billion towards growth and development of airport infrastructure, according to the Investment Commission of India.
Indian aerospace companies are growing too. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was ranked 40th in Flight International’s list of the very best 100 aerospace companies last year.
Aircraft manufacturing major, Boeing, is in the procedure for establishing the US$ 100 million proposed Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) facilities in Delhi. Air India is also along the way of launching a Cargo Hub in Nagpur while Deccan Aviation has started one in the city.
GE Aviation and Air India will jointly invest US$ 90 million to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Mumbai.
Indocopters Private Ltd, distributor for Eurocopter helicopters in India, is planning to setup a helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Bhubaneswar, the business’s fourth service centre in the country.
Conclusion
General aviation keeps growing rapidly both in the developed and developing countries. India’s general aviation has failed to keep pace with the remainder of the world because of general misconceptions, non-awareness and miscommunication between government and public and insufficient infrastructure.
With 83,000 billionaires in India, and growing in the rate of 20% per year, the potential is amazing. Yet, there’s a strong belief in India the aircraft is really a luxury item. Realistically speaking, an aircraft is not a luxury item. Actually it may bring about an organisation operating more proficiently with lots of financial, economic and social benefits. It can provide a multi- utilitarian denomination towards the market.