Saturday, October 18, 2008
Hyderabad: India Aviation 2008 exposition, spread over four days, is the first in the series of such shows, to be held once every two years that offers high drama with a wide range of aircraft on the ground. India Aviation, the first exposition, demonstration and conference of its kind, is showcasing the opportunities, potential and strength in India's civil aviation sector.
By a bizarre coincidence, the exposition opened just the day after the genial Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal and his more flamboyant Kingfisher counterpart Vijay Mallaya announced that they were joining hands to operate both domestic and international services in order to cut costs and brave the liquidity crunch imposed by the fall out of the global financial crisis. But the immediate fall out of their deal—the lay off of cabin crew and other staff, protests against pink slips and the hoopla surrounding it—cast an ominous shadow on the exposition.
Now, the main problem is that there are simply too many planes for the number of people who can afford to fly, and there are many more on order. India is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy aviation turbine fuel. Excise duties, throughput fees charged by airport operators and state taxes of up to 30 per cent for domestic flights result in a cost structure that cannot support a competitive industry. The global crisis resulting from high oil prices and declining traffic is hitting India so hard that growth has slowed from 33 per cent in 2007 to 7.5 per cent for the first six months of this year.
Predictably, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel dismissed it as turbulence at a time when the aviation industry in the country is looking up. He did not miss the opportunity to assure that steps to bail out airline companies will be taken soon but clarified that there would not be a cash bail - out. Patel exhorted states to reduce the tax on aviation turbine fuel to four per cent like Andhra Pradesh did and should look at the larger picture and see the benefits for the economy.
Participants did exactly this except for the top honchos of Indian airline companies for they had to weather the turbulence caused by the rising costs and cash crunch. Aerospace companies from the United States, the partner country of Indian Aviation 2008, eyed opportunities in Indian aviation infrastructure.
India's aviation sector offers investment opportunity of $200 billion to $300 billion by 2020, and it is confident of overcoming the 'temporary hurdles' to continue the growth. The tremendous investment opportunities are in various aspects of aviation like purchase of new aircraft, replacing the existing fleet, building infrastructure and improving navigation systems. Patel said the business opportunities in other facets of aviation like helicopter tourism, sea tourism and business aviation have to be explored. He said India was also ready to be part of the growth of global aviation and integrate with European Union and the US.
18/10/08 Amarnath K. Menon/India Today
By a bizarre coincidence, the exposition opened just the day after the genial Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal and his more flamboyant Kingfisher counterpart Vijay Mallaya announced that they were joining hands to operate both domestic and international services in order to cut costs and brave the liquidity crunch imposed by the fall out of the global financial crisis. But the immediate fall out of their deal—the lay off of cabin crew and other staff, protests against pink slips and the hoopla surrounding it—cast an ominous shadow on the exposition.
Now, the main problem is that there are simply too many planes for the number of people who can afford to fly, and there are many more on order. India is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy aviation turbine fuel. Excise duties, throughput fees charged by airport operators and state taxes of up to 30 per cent for domestic flights result in a cost structure that cannot support a competitive industry. The global crisis resulting from high oil prices and declining traffic is hitting India so hard that growth has slowed from 33 per cent in 2007 to 7.5 per cent for the first six months of this year.
Predictably, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel dismissed it as turbulence at a time when the aviation industry in the country is looking up. He did not miss the opportunity to assure that steps to bail out airline companies will be taken soon but clarified that there would not be a cash bail - out. Patel exhorted states to reduce the tax on aviation turbine fuel to four per cent like Andhra Pradesh did and should look at the larger picture and see the benefits for the economy.
Participants did exactly this except for the top honchos of Indian airline companies for they had to weather the turbulence caused by the rising costs and cash crunch. Aerospace companies from the United States, the partner country of Indian Aviation 2008, eyed opportunities in Indian aviation infrastructure.
India's aviation sector offers investment opportunity of $200 billion to $300 billion by 2020, and it is confident of overcoming the 'temporary hurdles' to continue the growth. The tremendous investment opportunities are in various aspects of aviation like purchase of new aircraft, replacing the existing fleet, building infrastructure and improving navigation systems. Patel said the business opportunities in other facets of aviation like helicopter tourism, sea tourism and business aviation have to be explored. He said India was also ready to be part of the growth of global aviation and integrate with European Union and the US.
18/10/08 Amarnath K. Menon/India Today
Labels: General, India, Jet Airways
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