 "Chartered flight")
Business sentiments running high normally mean good days for private jet operators in India. But the country’s lack of infrastructure and a policy paralysis have stymied the growth of an industry which according to operators would have been high and flying now.
Firstly, the government is yet to evolve a policy framework for non-scheduled air operations, and lack of it was impeding the growth of the industry.
“Being governed by the same regulations of that of the scheduled operators, poses a load on us, said Bhupesh Joshi, CEO of Club One Air — one of the largest players in the market. Joshi cites the example of regulation according to which it is mandatory for a co-pilot to fly for 100 hours to become captain.
“Because the scheduled carriers have volumes and it’s very easy for them to meet the regulatory requirements, for our pilots to have 10 hours of flying will take six months,” he says.
The story of the nosedive lies in its numbers. India's private jet fleet grew at double-digit rates until 2008, when it surged 26 percent, according to industry figures. But that proved to be a flash in a pan.
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After that, there was a sharp slowdown owing to the global financial crisis. High taxes ensured that the numbers didn't climbed back up by much has a one-time show. Since then, there have been periodic increases in the number of operators, but no sooner than one came in, another went out.
Since the last three years, the number of chartered operators as well as aircraft has plateaued. The years of double-digit growth went into single digit in 2010 and slipped into negative territory in 2013. The inventory or number of aircraft owned by chartered operators has remained stagnant at 200 since 2013. This is despite the fact that the economy has recovered and business prospects looked brighter.
According to an executive of a charter company, the government has never thought of building infrastructure for business jets. "India has gone berserk building airports to support growing numbers of Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s operated by Indian carriers for the passenger sector - to fuel the growing middle class - but they haven't really gone to town in building up business jet facilities to the same degree that they have for commercial aircraft," he said.
Stressed out by infrastructural constraints, airport slots is another key issue that has compounded the woes of air-charter. Delhi airport have reduced the number of slots for such operators to five flights per day. In Mumbai airport they are not allowed to fly during the peak hour of 8 AM- 12 PM. “We lose a lot of business due to that,” says Joshi.
