100 years of Civil Aviation in India

“Aviation plays an important role in the economic development process of countries. Flying is nolonger the prerogative of a few privileged, but an option for an increasingly broader section of society”
- Pratibha patil , president Of India

Civil Aviation plays an integral role in development of an economy. It helps in realizing the socio-economic objective of providing connectivity to foster travel & trade. As per International Civil Aviation Organizations’ estimates, every 100 $ spent on air travel produces benefits worth 325 $ to the Economy.

The Indian Aviation Sector has witnessed tremendous growth in the recent past which is driven by sound demographic, macroeconomic, government aided reforms & market dynamics. The three fold increase in consumerism, rising disposable income; booming aviation sector; burgeoning middle class; increasing business travel; government reforms; entry of low cost carriers; increasing competition etc have positioned the Indian Aviation Sector in a high growth trajectory.

Celebrating 100 years of the aviation industry, India Post,acknowledging Air India’s support,
released a special cover on February 18 at the international stamp exhibition – Indipex2011, New Delhi.

Air India has now been in the service of the nation for over 78 years. During this period AI has served as the national carrier of India carrying not only passengers and cargo but also mail for the Indian Postal Service

The following Number itself show the Status of Civil Aviation in India :-

9 - is India's ranking in the global aviation market
82 - Number of operational airports across the country
50 mn - Number of air passengers India is expected to ferry this year
735 - Number of aircraft operational in the country

The Indian aviation industry turned century . Since the first 10-km flight from Allahabad to Naini, the sector holds the distinction of being the fastest growing and the 9th largest in the world today


Phase I of Indian Aviation Sector (up till 1986):


The legacy of Indian aviation dates back to 1912 when India’s first air mail service was started by Tata Airlines. Tata Airlines though was started as an air mail service but soon ventured in carrying scheduled passenger traffic. In 1946, Tata Airlines was renamed as Air India. In early 1948, a joint sector company, Air India International Ltd., was established by the Government of India and Air India (earlier Tata Airline) .

Patrion of country 1947 & effect on Avation :- At the time of independence, nine air transport companies were operational in the British India. After independence, the number reduced to eight when Orient Airways shifted base to Pakistan.

The government in 1950 had set an Air Traffic Enquiry Committee to look into the problems faced by the airlines. The soaring prices of aviation fuel, mounting salary bills and disproportionately large fleets took a heavy toll of the then airlines. The financial health of companies declined despite liberal Government patronage, particularly from 1949, and an upward trend in air cargo and passenger traffic. Though the Committee found no justification for nationalization of airlines, it favored their voluntary merge. So Competition Issues in the Civil Aviation Sector

The Air Corporations Act, 1953 :-

Government in the wake of deteriorating financial conditions of the Airlines decided to step in and nationalize the air transport industry and accordingly, two autonomous corporations were created on August 1, 1953. In 1953, the government nationalized the airlines via. The Air Corporations Act, 1953, which gave birth to Indian Airlines and Air India. Indian Airlines was formed with the merger of eight domestic airlines to operate domestic services, while Air India International was to operate the overseas services. The Act also gave monopoly power to Indian Airlines to operate on domestic scheduled services to the exclusion of any other operator. Air India became the only Indian carrier
to operate on international routes except for some routes to the neighboring countries which were given to Indian Airlines.

Phase – II (1986-2003) – Entry of Private players


The second phase of Indian aviation began in the year 1986 with granting of permission to private sector players to operate as air taxi operators. The private players allowed to operate as air taxi operators included Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Damania Airways, East West Airlines, Modiluft and NEPC Airways. In 1994, government of India repealed the Air Corporation Act there by. Following this measure in 1995, govt. granted scheduled carrier status to six private air taxi operators. However, not many operators were able to continue their business and by 1997 only four operators started operations followed the deregulation continued to operate: Jet Airways; Air Sahara; Jagsons and Spicejet (previously operated as Modiluft )
.
Phase III: (2003 – 2006) - Low Cost Carrier

Only two private carriers survived to see the dawn of the new century. The duopoly of Jet and Sahara as private carrier was challenged in 2003 by Air Deccan whose operations in scheduled services began in August. The entry of Deccan changed the entire canvas on which the aviation sector was defined. Air Deccan gave India its first Low Cost Carrier (LCC) or no frills Airline! This marked as a turning point in the history of Indian Aviation Sector as it marked a shift from the stereo type economy fares & business fares to the era of check fares ; web fares ; APEX fares ; internet auctions ; Special discounts ; Corporate plans ; last day fares; promotional fares etc. Arrival of Deccan has bought a revolution in this sector, it changed the common man’s perception of flying by matchingairline fares neck to neck with upper class railway fare. Air traffic growth since then has witnessed tremendous growth rates.

Cost 2003, we see a 3 fold increase passengers traveling by air in India. Spurred by the
initial success of LCC Model, other airlines entered the sector and opted for No-Frill
Competition Issues in the Civil Aviation Sector

Licenses have been issued to new carriers such as Star Airlines ; Skylark ; Magic Air ; Air One and many more in the pipeline.

Phase IV: (Year 2006 onwards) : The year of Marriages in the Indian Skies!

Yet another milestone in the history of the Indian Aviation sector came in the year 2007
which is the year of Marriages in the Indian Skies!

The Year-2007 has been the year of M&A in the Indian Skies. First, it was Indian Airlines & Air India then Jet & Air Sahara and last but the least to tie the knot was Kingfisher & Air Deccan. The industry sources favored these mergers as they believed that these mergers would benefit the already bleeding Industry. It would help to bring in some route; network & fleet rationalization.

Some remarkable milestone achive by Indian avation :-

1924: Construction of civil airports began in India. Construction began at Dum Dum in Calcutta, Bamrauli in Allahabad and Gilbert Hill in Bombay

1940: Walchand Hirachand set up Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore in association with the then Mysore Government

1948: Prem Mathur became the first woman commercial pilot and started flying for Deccan Airways. She obtained her commercial pilot's licence in 1947

1956: Durba Banerjee was inducted as Indian Airlines' first woman pilot

1960: India entered the jet age with the induction of Boeing 707-437 into Air India's fleet

1985: Captain Saudamini Deshmukh commanded the first all-woman crew flight on an Indian Airlines Fokker friendship F-27 on the Calcutta-Silchar route

1990: At 26, Captain Nivedita Bhasin of Indian Airlines became the youngest pilot in civil aviation history to command a jet aircraft. She also became the first woman pilot on an Airbus A300 aircraft.

1990: Air India entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest evacuation effort by a single civilian airline when it flew over 1,11,000 people from Amman to Mumbai in 59 days, operating 488 flights just before the Gulf war began.

1995: Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by merging the International Airport Authority of India with National Airports Authority.

2011 : Air India operated an Ultra Long Haul Flight from Delhi to Toronto with an all-women crew on March 8, 2011, to mark the occasion of the International Women's Day. Last year, for the first time in aviation history, we had operated the Ultra Long Haul Flight from Mumbai to New York with an all-women crew to commemorate the same occasion.

PPPs – SUCCESS STORIES IN AIRPORT SECTOR :-


Today in India, about 60 percent of air traffic is being handled in airports under the Public Private Partnership model at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore and the rest 40 percent, is with airports owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India. - Pratibha patil at International Civil Aviation Conference in Mumbai on 14th October ,2011

Cochin International Airport
Cochin International Airport was the first airport in India to be built in the joint sector with public private participation. An innovative financial structure involving public deposits for non-resident Keralites was conceived to kick-start the project. The total cost of construction was about Rs 283 crore.

Bangalore International Airport
Bangalore International Airport Ltd was formed as a joint venture between the Karnataka government and private players like Siemens Project Ventures and L&T. The airport consists of a 4,000 meter long runway, taxiways and an apron area with aircraft stands and a terminal building. The airport has the capability to be further developed to handle 40 million passengers in future.

Hyderabad International Airport
The consortium of GMR Infrastructure Limited and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad was selected to develop Greenfield international airport at Shamshabad near Hyderabad. The airport site measures about 5400 acres and is expected to have an ultimate handling capacity of 40 million passengers per annum equipped to handle large aircraft, including the Airbus 380. The total cost of the project is
Rs 2,370 crore.

Mumbai International Airport
Mumbai International Airport Limited, a consortium of GVK Industries Ltd and Airports Company South Africa was entrusted the project of modernizing the Mumbai Airport in February 2006. The Mumbai International Airport would cater to 40 million passengers per year and one million metric tonne of cargo per year by 2010.

Delhi International Airport Fraport,
Airports Authority of India, Eraman Malaysia and GMR Infrastructure have entered into a joint venture to upgrade the Delhi International Airport. The contract was on a BoT basis with a 35 year concession period. Two modernized terminals along with a brand new terminal, a new runway of more than 4400 m is part of the concession contract. Delhi Airport would have 500 check-in
counters, 200 aerobridges, 150 immigration counters and the capacity to handle over 100 million passengers a year after the completion of the project.

Notable Points about Indiann avation sector :-

Go Green :- In keeping with our resolve to reduce fuel cost, bring down operating costs and our strong commitment to go GREEN, Air India recently signed a five-yearfranchise agreement with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) to become the first and sole authorised service provider of EcoPower Engine Wash Service in India. The EcoPower Engine Wash System is a new-generation equipment and the only one of its kind that is designed and patented by P&W to clean aircraft engine gas path in Line Maintenance. In recent years, Air India has undertaken a number of measures to save fuel that will ultimately result in lowering the cost of operation and also reduce emissions. Aircraft engine gas path cleaning has proven to be one of the most effective methods of reducing fuel burn and
reduce CO2 emission.

Safty :- Today India is considered to be one of the safest countries in terms of civil aviation. Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of America even cited India as a role model in the Asia-Pacific region.

Experts speak :- Parvez Damania, who owned Damania Airways, which was sold in 1996, said, "We are the fastest growing aviation market in the world and all the aircraft manufacturers from Airbus to Boeing feel that the Indian aviation market has huge potential. The airlines operating on the domestic routes are above the world standard. I think there is no need to increase the number of airlines. Instead, the existing airlines should expand by increasing their reach in other routes." Former DGCA chief, H S Khola, said, "The growth has been phenomenal in the last 20 years since private carriers entered the industry. I feel the government should involve the airlines, too, while planning the sector's growth."

Some MINUS (-) Points about Indian civil aviation sector:-

the Indian civil aviation sector , year 2011 has been one of unrest. The once lucrative sector has witnessed a large exodus of pilots and crew members leaving the country for greener pastures

. - As the country celebrates 100 years of aviation in India, large scale malpractices were detected at flying academies spread across the country where fake licenses were issued to pilots. The scam raised serious doubts about safety in the aviation industry . About 23 people were arrested which included pilots, senior employees of the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and middlemen involved in the scam. -

Despite a 17 per cent growth in passenger traffic, India's civil aviation industry was hit by rising jet fuel prices and interest costs, which ate into the margins of carriers. High taxes on jet fuel and equally high airport charges were the major heads of cost for the Indian carriers, with the global airlines' body International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimating that fuel costs accounted for 45 per cent of the total costs, compared with 30 per cent for global carriers. -

Last month, carriers facing financial trouble approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention to at least get aviation fuel and loans at cheaper rates. The industry has accumulated losses of nearly Rs 15,000 crore in 2010-11, up from Rs 7,038 crore in 2009-10. Leading the pack is national carrier Air India followed by private sector carrier Kingfisher Airlines. The losses notched up these two giants played spoilsport for the Indian aviation sector in 2011. -

The only reprieve was low-cost IndiGo that posted profits during the current tough times. It also announced a buy-order for 180 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus worth as much as $15.6 billion, touted as the largest aircraft order in aviation history.

- Flights of Air India and Kingfisher were also disrupted for a few days during the year as state-led oil companies stopped supplies demanding daily cash payments for lifting of jet fuel. Air India continued to reel under a huge debt with estimated debt now at Rs 43,777.01 crore towards purchase of new aircraft and working capital loans. Air India suffered a loss of Rs 6,994 crore during 2010-11. The carrier's operations were hit by a nine-day strike by its pilots in April-May over the payment of salary and allowances. The strike disrupted its flight schedules.

This apart, the Air India management faced three strikes, mainly due to late payment of salaries and the issue of the merger of Indian Airlines with Air India, which stranded thousands of passengers and pushed up its losses.