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As the sessions progressed, post the inaugural
session, which was addressed by the minister,
the government was conspicuous by its absence
in the debates to discuss the situation of General
Aviation (GA) in India at a seminar organised
by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) and
US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme.
With five Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ)
, airspace surrounded by 12 countries and a total
of 244 ATS routes, up-gradation and expansion/addition
of airports, civil aviation is expanding in a
big way all over India. But the focus is on commercial
aviation, scheduled airlines and putting tier
2 and 3 cities on the Indian aviation map. General
Aviation is experiencing a lot of constraints.
There are no exclusive guidelines, nor decisions
being taken for it.
Minister of Civil Aviation Ajit Singh, speaking
of policy changes to be made and a time frame
to ease out regulatory issues, stated that India
has the potential to become a major ‘Maintenance,
Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub. The government,
he said, has recently decided to give several
concessions to promote this activity in India.
The inhibitors in the growth of GA are mainly
lacking separate infrastructure, manpower as well
as several procedural issues related to government
control. There is no concept of Fixed Base Operator
(FBO), Helicopters or GA terminals in the country.
Numbers of agencies for ground handling are extremely
restricted. There is no separate parking for GA
aircraft and helicopters which operate out of
airports. Clearly, more focus is required than
what Government of India and DGCA are now putting
on the GA sector.
Arun Mishra, Director General, DGCA, said that
there is primary synergy between India and the
US. “We are new kids on the block and need support.
Safety is my primary concern. Regulation of safety
in business aviation is very important.” He admitted
that there is shortage of staff at DGCA but said
that the process for filling the vacancies has
begun.
As far as GA’s potential is concerned, the demand
for business jets in the country is expected to
go up by more than 10 per cent a year in the next
decade. In India, business aircrafts have continuously
evolved to meet the increasing market demands
for speed and comfort by a number of high net-worth
individuals. No doubt the business jets market
will increase and jet manufacturers will be intensifying
their efforts to sell more aircraft in the country.
Dr Vivek Lall, the Chairman Aviation and Aerospace
Committee and President and CEO, New Venture,
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), optimised that
the conference would act as a catalyst in formulating
policies on general aviation and there is tremendous
opportunity for the US and India to work together.
The need for setting up a Working Group to look
at the aviation requirements was emphasised upon
by CJ Collins, Senior Representative, Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA). She said that India
is the least penetrated but has huge potential
and stressed that the DGCA and industry partners
should be members of the Working Group. There
are several issues which the DGCA is looking at,
she said, including trying for short notice flights,
issues of general aviation flying into defence
controlled airspace, etc.
DGCA needs 30 days time for clearance of a foreign
registered aircraft to land in a defence airport
with a civil enclave. This fact needs to be addressed.
An international operator takes seven working
days to get a permit to land in India. Multiple
leg flight plans is again a major issue with GA
operators. Landing and parking charges should
be through a preloaded card or a credit card which
the service provides. This will lead to easy payment
rather than payment by cash or cheque.
The field of emergency medical services operated
by helicopters is also emerging as a very important
growth area. In terms of fixed wing business jets,
statistical studies indicate that generally they
are more cost effective than commercial services
and hence there is the potential. But the same
time there is an urgent need to increase safety
awareness and compliance culture in GA.
Developing a process to allowing easier ramp
side access for business aircraft pilots and support
personnel and making guidelines or regulations
for support of GA is the need of the hour. The
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has issues on
security passes for pilots and engineers.
There is a rule in DGCA books, which states that
business aircraft require temporary registration,
just like a ferry flight permit, but again it
needs clarity as to how GA purchases can use that,
to make sure that it has been just purchased into
the country. That’s one of the issues. (Highlighted
portion not clear. Pl recheck) GA issues like
importation approval processes and the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) currency restrictions are
under review by DGCA.
GA up till date has been largely operated in
the shadow of scheduled commercial aviation. It
is the scheduled commercial aviation that has
been in the heads of people, in the government
and as has been said in the beginning, the topic
was about soaring GA versus infrastructure bottlenecks.
With government support in the way of user friendly
regulations, assistance with infrastructure and
inclusiveness into the aviation market place,
GA can flourish and make a vital contribution
to the Indian economy. The Indian Business Aviation
Operators Association (BAOA) is making a 50-item
legislative wish list to the Aviation Minister.
According to Rohit Kapur, President of India’s
BAOA, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore,
Agra and Goa will all need alternate airports
for business aviation traffic. “We need more heliports
and fixed-base operators in India for Business
Aviation. GA parking bays are exhausted and this
needs to be looked into in all major airports.”
he added.
Surprisingly, India’s business aviation suffers
from the perception that it is for the rich and
the elite. Red tape in buying, importing and operating
business aircraft, time-consuming customs and
immigration procedures, and three months to get
security clearance for qualified pilots, all prevent
smooth operations, growth of the sector and creation
of a revenue generating model. Is the government
listening?
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