From the Editor-in-Chief

Dear Reader,

At the first-ever virtual EBACE Connect, industry leaders strongly displayed the eagerness to embrace the future by shifting focus on new opportunities with reinvention as the remote technologies are likely to continue. These global executives spoke on important topics, trends and developments in the outlook for the industry, some of which are highlighted in a report in the magazine. Ayushee Chaudhary reports on the virtual conference in this edition.

Building on the positive fervor of the industry, in an exclusive conversation with BizAvIndia, Tray Crow, Gulfstream’s Director of Interior Design revealed the manufacturer’s approach towards aviation-design highlighting the customisation of each step of the process, from the floor plan to selecting materials to the final delivery.

Even though the entire world has not yet resumed activities and new variants as well as successive waves of the virus continue to keep the uncertainty high, the overall industry is still resilient. The positive attitude has especially been observed in the BizAv market with more people considering business travel. In this regard, notable gains have been observed in the US, with business aviation activity up by 37 per cent this year compared to the first four and a half months of 2020. A report on the same by Ayushee Chaudhary is included in this edition.

Air Vice Marshal S.S. Chauhan (Retd), President, BAOA brings to notice the sizable expenditure incurred on account of aircraft maintenance in lieu of the pandemic. In a report about the MRO sector, he also points out the need for an expert technical committee to protect & promote the overall national MRO interests.

Shifting the focus from regular flights, Group Captain C.J. Weir (Retd) shares the potential of Vertical Business Jet that will reduce dependence on traditional infrastructure requirements whilst dramatically increasing its deployment possibilities, the challenge however is to integrate various cutting edge technologies to have an economically viable aircraft. He stated that India is one region where the VBJ will find a large market. In addition to that Sudhir Rajeshirke talks about Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) Air Space Management Solution for Safer and Efficient Travel within Air Traffic Services (ATS), its implementation timelines, and benefits including how India prepared for the same, is included in this issue.

All this and much more in this issue of BizAvIndia. Welcome aboard and we wish you many happy landings!