India Inc says 'jet set go' to fractional ownership

Air also has a decent chunk of corporates from the energy, oil and gas and textile sectors who have membership with them. The cost of such flying could be anything between Rs 60,000-Rs 3, 00,000 for an hour.

Claims of aviation companies that corporates prefer fractional ownership of aircraft can be corroborated with a recent report authored by Ketki Mahajan, research associate, aerospace and defense practice at Frost & Sullivan which states, India is one of the strongest markets for private jets with strong economic growth, expanding business interests and increasing number of billionaires.

The report further said that the private jets market in India constitutes 12% of the global market and is bigger than Asian markets in China and Japan. India has the maximum number of private jets in Asia, around 140 against China's 93 and Japan's 76; this is expected to double by 2020.

How Kingfisher can turn around its operations – An exclusive interview with Kapil Kaul, Centre of Asia Pacific Aviation

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Kapil Kaul of CAPA presents his views on how Kingfisher could turn around its aviation business:-

Q: What is your view on the recent turn of events where the Kingfisher management has assured the employees to pay the employees three months salary and finally employees seemed to have boxed those assurances for now?

A: I don't think that the employees have any option. Getting three months salary from no salary three weeks backs; is a good beginning. If the employees don't come into the game then there will be no future at all. I believe that the employees were insisting for four months salaries, but if the management has agreed to give three months salaries then they will be in a position to present a credible plan to the DGCA at least to start with five aircrafts.

Q: KFA is sitting on mountain of debt; lenders are waiting for the company to clear their dues, only seven aircrafts are airworthy. What kind of credible plan do you present in this context?

A: Credible plan means to have five aircraft operational which is required to keep his licence intact. Credible plan for a turnaround is all together a different ball game. The company requires a minimum USD 600 million immediately to start a revival plan and the balance USD 400 million needs to come in the near term.

Q: Do you believe that DGCA will agree to sign up to lift the suspension given the fact that they are only going to do enough to keep that licence condition afloat. Do you believe given the fact they have already seen their licence being suspended the DGCA is going to go easy?

A: If the airline has five airworthy aircrafts, sufficient cash to maintain those aircraft, have employees on board then the suspension can be revoked. Earlier, the question was that the employees were not coming on board, so the operations were suspended. Turnaround of Kingfisher is a different ball game altogether because unless and until the promoted capitalizes to the tune of USD 400 million there isn't any game.

Civil Aviation minister to propose ATF under declared good category

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh said:  “High price of aviation turbine fuel is the biggest issue. We need to rationalise it. I have already written to the petroleum minister and I will also meet him in a couple of weeks," said Singh, referring to a proposal to notify this fuel as a declared good.

Once a product is listed as a declared good, a uniform sales tax is payable on it. In the case of aviation, airlines will have to pay a four percent sales tax across all states, as opposed to a wide fluctuation of 3?34 percent. Oil regulator will also be in a position to keep a check on prices.

At present, aviation fuel in India is nearly 50-60 percent dearer than in countries such as Thailand, Singapore or the UAE, due to the additional 3-34 percent sales tax imposed by states. This pushes the cost of operations by close to 30 percent.

Commercial aviation in stake, regional connectivity on a boom

Despite the current turbulence in India's commercial aviation space, the government sees robust growth ahead if airlines reduce tariff, induct small aircraft and connect cities beyond metros for which a policy will be announced soon.

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Civil Aviation Minister- Ajit Singh showed interest in expanding connectivity to regional cities:-

·        We need more connectivity to smaller cities. There is also the need to build low cost airports at these places. This will surely encourage a growth in passenger traffic.

·        Tier II and Tier III cities are the ones that are showing rapid economic growth. These are the places where the aviation service must improve.

·        According to the minister, even though India's overall economic growth slumped to around seven percent in the past few years, the domestic commercial aviation business continued to log a robust growth of over 15 percent, notwithstanding a dip in the past eight months.

·        As a result of this growth, India's metros are now well connected. The need now is to promote this kind of growth in smaller cities, and that will be our main focus.

·        For this, we will soon announce a major policy for regional airlines. We have already hired a consultant for this.

·        Airlines must induct small aircraft that can land on short runways, as only 90 runways in the country can handle jet operations. In fact, many out of those 90 runways are non-operational. This leaves a gap-how to connect places which have shorter runways. Airlines are in touch with the manufacturers of small aircraft that can land there.

Spain (Europe) to set up its base in the upcoming aerospace park at Bangalore

The European nation is keen on a presence in Bangalore as it views the city as a research and development hub in aerospace technology in India

One of the biggies in the aerospace industry, Spain, is looking at setting up a base in the IT city. It is eyeing the upcoming aerospace park next to Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) at Devanahalli.

The state-of-the-art 985-acre facility is being developed by the state industries and commerce department. It also has a 252-acre Special Economic Zone in its premises.

The aerospace park has already got investors and project proposals from HAL, Jupiter Aviation, Dynamic Technologies, Centum Electronics, AMADA, BEML, Wipro, Tyco and Aero Electronics Private Limited.

 Surbhi Sharma, honorary consul of Spain, told Bangalore Mirror, “With Bangalore being the centre of R&D in aerospace, Spanish companies’ priority would be to set up a base here. Spain is in the forefront in aerospace industry and its first choice of investment in aerospace sector would be Bangalore.’’

 Bangalore Aerospace Park is targeting investments up to $5 billion dollars spread over the next nine years. The Karnataka government is banking big-time on this mega-project as the aerospace industry is the highest employment multiplier. “Spain is an important part of Airbus manufacturing process and also a strong EADS player”.