Bangalore: A few big
names of India Inc which went into chartered aviation services is
beating a retreat, putting helicopters and business jets on the block.
Regulatory bottlenecks have stifled their charter, or general aviation,
forays despite a surge to operate private jets.
GMR Aviation had
ordered a Dassault Falcon 7X business jet priced at Rs 250 crore 18
months ago, but the company has put it on sale even before taking
delivery. The other corporate names trimming their fleet include Captain
G R Gopinath's Deccan Charters, which has put seven aircrafts on sale
through online classified aircraft listing portals AircraftMarketPlace,
Aircraft Sales World and Aircraftonsale.
Reliance Transport &
Travels, the travel arm of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is
divesting a Bell helicopter and a super large business jet Bombardier
Global 5000. The Anil Ambani firm has previously sold Bell 407 and
Beechcraft King Air B200 to US companies. A Reliance Group spokesperson
said this sale is part of the routine modernization of our fleet from
time to time.
GMR Aviation, which has a fleet of three fixed wing
and two rotary wing aircraft including two Falcon jets, said: "We have
not taken delivery as yet, and would definitely explore the possibility
if someone requires it more than us. The existing fleet serve our needs
as a non-scheduled operator permit."
Gopinath's Deccan Charters
has put the light utility Bell helicopters on sale with an asking price
between Rs 3.5 to Rs 4 crore. Sanjay Saihgal, VP-business development in
the company said, "We are letting go of some of the old aircraft in our
fleet. We are replacing them with new aircraft depending on the
specific requirement for contracts we will be getting into." Deccan,
with a current fleet of 15 aircrafts, also wants to sell Pilatus PC-12
and Super King Air B-200.
Pune-based Oxford Enterprises offering
aviation services is axing a Bell 407 helicopter from the fleet. The
company's operations manager Anirudha Uttam Seoleker refused to comment
on the sale, but he confirmed that the company had sold a four-seater
helicopter Robinson 44 (R44) recently.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers
report on India's general aviation said the market is expected to grow
at 10% annually to cross Rs 1,600 crore in the next five years, as
nearly 300 business jets, 300 small aircraft and 250 helicopters are
expected to be added to the present fleet by then.
"Scheduled
flights on metro sectors generally get preference over general aviation
aircraft which defeats the purpose. High cost of ownership, high landing
and parking charges, high cost of maintenance, and bad infrastructure
at small airports have created significant challenges for owners of
business jets," said Amber Dubey, partner and head-aviation at global
consultancy KPMG. At the height of the economic boom, more than 35
Indian companies like Indiabulls offered chartered aviation services.
Captain
Murali Ramakrishna, former CEO Crescent Air Cargo, said high landing
fees affect charter operators eating into their profits. "I was
chartering a flight on the Delhi-Jaipur sector and the airport
authorities charged Rs 20,000 per landing. GMR that operates the Delhi
airport charges Rs 13,000 per landing and Rs 2,500 per passenger for
chartered flights. We also have to bear the transportation cost from the
parking bay to the aircraft," he said.
PwC said more than Rs 200
billion investment would flow into general aviation during the 12th
Five Year Plan. "The government needs to come out with a supportive
policy regime. Our captains of industry need to have the privacy of a
private jet to conduct business activities while flying. This needs to
be understood rather than being scoffed at as a luxury demand of the
rich and famous," KPMG's Dubey added.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com