Economy, GDP Topic of Discussion at Indian Business Aviation Expo

Mar 9, 2011 12:48 PM

More than 200 delegates and 500 exhibition visitors who attended the 2nd annual Indian Business Aviation Expo in New Delhi February 21-23, organized by MIU Events and Exhibitions Group India, heard that India's GDP growth will average 8.7 percent in the period 2012/13 to 2015/16 and will be the 6th largest global economy by 2020, overtaking the U.S. as the second largest by 2050.

Rising income is leading to rising aspirations and India is poised to see a dramatic increase in the business aircraft fleet size – Kapil Kaul from CAPA estimates the current GA fleet at 991 aircraft, but the active fleet is more realistically 681, however this is set to increase dramatically over the coming years and will rival China in real terms. CAPA expects India to be the 3rd largest global aviation market by 2020.

Capt Karan Singh, vice President of the Business Aviation Association for India (BAAI), added a note of caution and pointed out there was much that was needed in terms of infrastructure and planning and the regulatory process was in urgent need of simplification. These sentiments were echoed by Kapil Kaul, who called for greater vision when it came to the GA and business aviation sector, citing the process of buying a corporate jet, which can take from 3-6 months depending on the paperwork involved and pointed to 20-25 sales that failed because of bureaucratic procedures.

Bharat Bhushan, Director General, DGCA, said he understood the need to simplify procedures and in reponse to a direct request from Capt Singh from BAAI, agreed to meet, at least quarterly, with the association.

Ashish Sharma, business Head at GE Capital India said that the business aviation industry was bouncing back and the recovery would be led by Asia Pacific. He said the industry was moving away from U.S. dominance and 10,000 global deliveries were expected over next 10 years, but with the Asia Pacific region the fastest growth area. Sharma was cautious about charter business models, as few were proven in India, most were start ups with limited history. Growth has been driven so far by corporate charters rather than commercial charters.

Jose Eduardo Costas, VP Marketing and Sales - Asia Pacific, estimated that over the next 10 years Asia Pacific will represent 16.7 percent of global revenues, valued at $35 billion, of which 4.4 percent, or $9 billion, will be for the Indian market. He forecasted 470 business jets for China, worth $14.3 billion and 360 business jets for India.

Delegates also heard that India would be the only economy to compete with China over the coming years and India's more entrepreneurial culture was likely to lead to many opportunities for those operating and supporting the business aviation sector, particularly in IT and the knowledge based aerospace sectors.

There has also been considerable growth in the number of operators entering the market with aircraft such as the Embraer Phenom 100 proving very popular and the light jet sector representing a large percentage of new orders.

Keynote speaker, Naveen Jindal, member of Parliament and Exec Vice chairman and MD, Jindal Steel, pointed out that he used private aviation and it was essential in terms of juggling his responsibilities to his constituents and running one of the world’s biggest Steel companies. Jindal, a former PPL, also invited the industry to include him in discussions with the DGCA, and pledged both his financial and moral support to the BAAI and called on other industry leaders to join with him in promoting a wider understanding of the industry and its benefits.

Full proceedings and downloads are available at: www.miuevents.com/archive/programme/ibae2011.

Photos from the event are available at: www.miuevents.com/galleries/ibae2011.

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