As 2014 draws to a close, we look back at the year gone by with mixed feelings. The first five months of the year were marked by near total paralysis in decision making at the level of the government as with the impending national elections where profound changes were anticipated, all cases of procurement of defence equipment from abroad were placed on hold. With the new Narendra Modi Government coming into power in the last week of May 2014, there was a distinct resurgence of hope that the long pending deals for defence equipment would finally be cleared.

In our annual round-up of the year 2014, we look at the highs and lows of year, the hits and the near misses on both military and civil aviation fronts. Corporate aviation saw major developments with aircraft majors launching game-changing products like the Falcon 8X.

India could get a full-time Minister of Defence only in the second week of November when the former Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar was sworn in as a Minister in the Prime Minister Modi’s cabinet and was entrusted with the Defence portfolio. The appointment of a no-nonsense man with impeccable credentials has rekindled hopes of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that the long pending deals especially for the 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) would be finalised soon. While some deals for the IAF such as the one pertaining to the procurement of the 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, both from Boeing, have been cleared, there are a number of other major projects in the pipeline over which clouds of uncertainty continue to hang.

Two major procurement proposals that continue to remain uncertain are firstly for the mega deal for 126 Rafale MMRCA where over seven years have elapsed since the tender was issued and a more recent proposal for the replacement of the Avro fleet of the IAF for which only one bid has been received from Airbus Defence and Space jointly with Indian firm Tata Advanced Systems Limited.

On the civil aviation front, the year witnessed the entry of two new carriers, AirAsia India and Air Costa with the third Tata-SIA joint venture airlines Vistara just about missing the target date of October 2014 for its launch. It is now scheduled to take to the skies on January 9 next year. On the other hand, one of the top budget carriers in India, SpiceJet, has suddenly gone into a nosedive and there are fears that it may go the Kingfisher way. Efforts are on both by the government and the investors to try and revive the carrier.

Meanwhile, the Modi Government was embarked on major overhaul of the civil aviation sector through enhancement of regional connectivity, commissioning of ‘no-frills’ airports, creation of world-class infrastructural facilities, establishment of regulatory framework in consonance with international standards, development of skilled manpower and adoption of advanced technologies.

In the domain of business aviation, leading French aircraft manufacturer, Dassault Aviation, unveiled the Falcon 8X, its flagship business jet to meet with the needs at the upper end of the business travel. The other high point in the world of business aviation was the MEBA Airshow this year which concluded on December 10 at the Dubai World Central. Dubbed as “the biggest and the most successful”, the airshow was symbolic of the soaring business aviation industry. Reports on the Falcon 8X and the MEBA Airshow are included in this issue.

In the pursuit of its objectives of space exploration, the Indian Space Research Organisation added yet another feather to its cap with the launch on December 18, 2014, of the GSLV III, its heaviest rocket yet and tested an unmanned crew module in a step towards its manned space mission.

All these in this final issue of SP’s Aviation for the year 2014, apart from the regular features.

Happy holidays!