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The Global five year demand as per the above
surveys is split almost 50-50 between the Americas
and rest of the world, involving an increase of
almost 5,000-5,500 machines. Latin America and
Asia continues to have the highest fleet replacement
and expansion expectations and remain the world’s
third largest regional market, following North
America and Europe. Drivers for these expectations
are aircraft age and condition, contractual requirements,
change in operational requirements, expiring warranties
and regulations requiring twin engines, specifically
for off shore operations. This is further supported
by the fact that the helicopter usage for corporate
sector, energy sector (oil and gas), heli-tourism
and training is increasing manifold in these regions
making the helicopter a value added asset in the
current business environment. However, the fact
remains that across the region from the Middle
East to Japan, business helicopter use is less
common than in Europe and United States.
HELICOPTER MARKET -INDIA
India’s civil aviation market is today among
the fastest growing in the world, but despite
the positive forecasts illustrated above, the
helicopter usage remains very limited and the
use of business helicopters continues to lag behind
the fixed wing business aircraft. From the time
the first civil helicopter was flown in India
in November 1953 and up to 1986 the commercial
use of helicopters in India was limited to small
aviation companies involved in communication and
crop spraying. The growth of civil helicopter
fleet in the early years was very modest. The
formation of the Helicopter Corporation of India
in 1986 (Later Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd), provided
the first boost to the civil helicopter industry
in India – Pawan Hans now holds and operates
the largest fleet in the country. While the numbers
had reached 293 by the end of year 2012, the same
has seen a decline in the year 2013 due to factors
purely related to high cost of operations and
regulatory bottlenecks – even though market
prospects continued to be positive. Today, there
are approximately 266 civil registered helicopters
in the country, operating with Non-Schedule Operators,
Private Category, Government (central & state)
and PSUs. While the Non-Schedule Operators hold
the major chunk of helicopters in numbers (200
plus) the balance operate under the category of
private and Government/PSU. However, this number
is woefully inadequate when compared with the
world population of civil helicopters. As per
the available data, total world civil helicopter
population stands at more than 34,000 with India
accounting for less than one per cent. In fact,
India currently has fewer civil helicopters than
Switzerland. In Brazil, a developing country like
ours, the city of Sao Paulo (similar to Bombay
& Delhi) itself has about 750 helicopters.
However, despite the above statistics, the market
and industry remains optimistic on the India helicopter
story. This is clearly demonstrated with the establishment
of joint ventures in India by helicopter majors
like AgustaWestland, Sikorsky and Eurocopter,
hoping that local production will give them an
edge as they compete to win orders especially
in the military segment.
COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS
As per world statistics, 40 per cent of all
civil helicopters are being used for corporate
business, 29 per cent for emergency medical services
and law enforcement, 16 per cent for offshore
operations and the balance for other operations
like heli-tourism, adventure sports, aerial surveys,
etc. This indicates that almost one-third of helicopters
worldwide are being used for law enforcement and
emergency medical services which is almost non-existent
in India. Presently majority of the commercial
helicopters available in India are being used
in the energy sector, both onshore and offshore.
The balance helicopters are employed in communications,
corporate use, medical evacuation (air taxi/ambulance),
heli- tourism/pilgrimage, elections and other
services like survey and pipeline monitoring.
Stakeholders are today prepared to commit large
investments in offshore exploration and production
particularly in deep sea areas so far left untouched.
Helicopters form an important and integral part
of such operations. In India presently there are
50 plus helicopters employed in the offshore sector
on the Western and Eastern coasts. These helicopters
account for over 75 per cent of the total civil
helicopter flying hours logged in the country.
As the exploration moves further offshore, the
requirement is for modern helicopters with better
range and advanced safety features. Much of the
above expected growth will therefore be driven
by the burgeoning offshore oil and gas industry,
as major obstacles continue to impede the business
aviation growth.
TYPES OF HELICOPTERS
The type of helicopters used in the civil market
is strongly influenced by the performance criteria
of the helicopter in terms of speed, range, safety
and reliability, hot/high capability, cabin size
and brand experience. Light single engine helicopters
continue to be the most popular product class
with the highest concentration in North America,
with Eurocopter’s EC 130/AS 350, Bell 407,
Robinson R-66 and AgustaWestland’s AW109
the most sought after models- many of these models
are also operating in India. The next in line
are the Intermediate/Medium twin-engine helicopters.
The models most commonly seen in this second most
popular segment are the AW139, AW169, Bell 412,
EC145 and Sikorsky S-76. These types of helicopters
are more in demand in the oil and gas arena and
are certainly more expensive to operate –
this trend is seen worldwide, though the highest
concentration of demand is in Asia and Latin America.
The heavy twin/multi-engine helicopters have a
very small share in civil market and are found
mostly in the military domain due to their specialised
nature and heavy operational costs. Typical models
are Eurocopter’s EC 225, Russian Mi-17 class
and Sikorsky’s S-92 with the Russian models
dominating the market – a number of civil
operators including Pawan Hans have the Mi-171s
on their inventory. In fact, the Mi-171 owned
by Pawan Hans Limited was involved in a fatal
crash in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh killing the
chief minister along with 18 others. As per Honeywell’s
survey data of 2013 the population of this class
of helicopters declined slightly from the 2012
levels in the civil commercial market. The vast
majority of global civil helicopters mentioned
above are concentrated in products manufactured
by three OEM’s namely Eurocopter, Bell Helicopter
and AgustaWestland.
BOTTLENECKS TO GROWTH
With the world market surveys showing a positive
growth in India in the coming five years and tremendous
commercial prospects existing as seen above, why
are the numbers dwindling? The main hurdle is
the surfeit of fiscal and regulatory bottlenecks
thrust on the operators by the bureaucracy. These
are enumerated below.
High Cost of Operations: Mounting cost of aviation
turbine fuel (ATF), very high customs duty for
import of helicopters/spares and application of
fixed wing air traffic rules to helicopters have
stymied the growth of civil helicopter industry
to a large extent. Add to this the total lack
of infrastructure in terms of heliports and helipads
and major maintenance hubs and the future of the
growth of the civil helicopter industry surely
looks dismal and gloomy. While the scope of operations
and utilisation for commercial helicopters is
vast, the requisite infrastructure is almost non-
existent both in the metros and remote areas.
Availability of Pilots and Training Facilities:
With the expanding civil helicopter industry the
demand for pilots is ever increasing. Presently
80 per cent of pilots and engineers are being
provided through the armed forces in terms of
Retirees/Premature Retirees. There is a need to
boost up the training facilities to get pilots
directly from the civil street – though this
is easier said than done due to the experience
and flying hours required to be built up by these
pilots in order to get suitable employment.
Regulatory Bottlenecks: The biggest bottleneck
is the applicability of fixed wing operation regulations
to helicopter operations. Fortunately, based on
the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee
on Aviation the requirement for looking into helicopter
operations in a more holistic manner is being
pursued but the progress is lethargic to say the
least. There is a need for clearing regulatory
bottlenecks faced by the industry on a fast track
to enhance growth and smooth operations. While
some action for having separate corridors for
operation of helicopters in Delhi and Mumbai airspace
is in progress the pace is again very slow. This
is a major step that will help in increasing safety
as well as efficiency and capacity for helicopter
operations.
CONCLUSION
Despite these bottlenecks, India due to its
terrain and vastness is a helicopter country and
offers phenomenal potential for usage of civil
helicopters for public good. However, for this
industry to grow and become viable there is a
need to address the various issues affecting the
growth of civil helicopter industry on priority
by the main stake holders, like the Ministry of
Civil Aviation (MOCA), the Director General Civil
Aviation and the and the Airports of Authority
India, failing which the prospects will remain
gloomy, proving all world market surveys wrong.
The MOCA strategy for the civil aviation sector
in the next five years includes providing impetus
for growth of helicopter industry and this must
be implemented with the seriousness it deserves.
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