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Business News/ Companies / Business jets growth slowed during 2010-15
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Business jets growth slowed during 2010-15

Business jet operators' fleet growth slipped to 10% between 2010 and 2015

India is looking at relatively conservative fleet growth projections of about 7% over a long period, the median between the best case of 12% and the current 2%. Photo: BloombergPremium
India is looking at relatively conservative fleet growth projections of about 7% over a long period, the median between the best case of 12% and the current 2%. Photo: Bloomberg

New Delhi: Growth in business aviation slowed during the five years ending 2015 after recording a substantial jump during the preceding five years, data released by business jet operators on Monday showed.

In 1990, there were a total of 41 business aircraft in India, including helicopters, which grew to 83 in 1995, 126 in 2000, 197 in 2005, 442 in 2010 and 487 in 2015. At 124%, growth between 2005 and 2010 was the strongest. It slipped to just 10% between 2010 and 2015, when only 45 jets were added to the fleets of corporates and charter operators—or, about 9 planes a year.

“Business aviation in India continues to remain much below its potential. In sharp contrast to the growth of scheduled airlines, business aviation in India over the last 5 years charted a meagre 2% growth," Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) said in its first such report.

India is looking at relatively conservative fleet growth projections of about 7% over a long period, the median between the best case of 12% and the current 2%. This means there could be 594 business jets by 2025 at the current rate, 958 in a medium growth scenario and 1,513 in the best case scenario.

The lobby group has asked the government to rationalize custom duties, increase operational hours at smaller airports like Ozhar, Daman and Surat, digitize aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s operations which currently require a lot of paper work, create a dedicated business jet terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport run by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), and expand facilities at the Mumbai airport.

Mohan Ranganathan, a Chennai-based aviation analyst, said demonetization of high-value currency notes will hurt business jet operators more than airlines. This is because for charters—many of them flown by politicians during election campaigns—fuel and landing charges are typically paid in cash.

“The sense I have from speaking with some of the charter operators is that flights are down by 70%," he said. “And there is panic about payments after this demonetization drive."

On 29 November, DGCA warned charter and private aircraft operators and their pilots against flying withdrawn currency notes to unsupervised airports.

“It has been reported that some of the non-scheduled operator permit holders have been engaged to carry demonetised currency from one part of the country to another, particularly from the uncontrolled airfields where there are no arrangements for screening baggage," DGCA had said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 November announced the withdrawal of all Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes to check black money, terror finance and counterfeiting.

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Published: 05 Dec 2016, 10:02 PM IST
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