A new type of virus known as the CoronaVirus, also dubbed as COVID-19 has spread across the world leaving a large number of nations including India, in a state of total paralysis. The lockdown at the national level imposed by the Government of India commencing on March 25 is still in place. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has crippled practically all segments of the Indian economy, especially the Indian airline industry, as all domestic and international flights have been stopped. It will be difficult to predict the timeframe in which the airlines can hope to get back on their feet and the nation can hope to effect economic recovery. In this issue, Wing Commander R.K. Yadav gives us an overview on the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian Airlines industry.

Another segment that has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is the Business Aviation sector. This issue of SP’s Aviation carries a detailed analysis of the problem by Rohit Kapur, the former President of BAOA. He has catalogued the plight of this sector and has made a number of practical suggestions to solve the problem, clearly bringing out the steps that the government needs to take.

In the prevailing situation, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has stepped in to provide the much needed relief by transporting medicines, medical equipment and medical personnel on a large scale to every part of this country and even abroad. A report by Air Marshal B.K. Pandey (Retd) on the role of the IAF in the battle against the COVID-19 is also included.

March 14, 2020, will be marked as a landmark day for the MRO sector in India when the GST council, in an attempt to boost the Indian MRO industry, reduced the GST on MRO services from 18 to 5 per cent. This is seen as a huge support for the floundering Indian MRO sector and hopefully make India as a MRO hub, at least in South Asia. The current MRO scenario in India is catalogued in this issue by Anil Chopra while there is an analysis by Pulak Sen on the effect of this reduced GST on the sector.

In this issue we have interviewed Gerald Steinhoff, Sr. Vice President, Corporate Sales, Asia Pacific, Lufthansa Technik, the global leader in MRO services, who completes 25 years of providing flawless services. Even during this torrid Corona crisis, Lufthansa Technik continues to provide reliable services and fulfillment based on a solid network of global MRO operations in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific and a vast network of subcontractors.

A major event in the global aerospace and defence industry earlier this year has been the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies Corporation. This historic merger has created the world’s most advanced aerospace and defence systems provider known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation. This new enterprise is expected to transform the aerospace and defence landscape the world over and is expected to become a dominant global supplier to military and civil customers. A detailed report by Ayushee Chaudhary on the merger has been included in this issue of the magazine.

All this and more in this issue of SP’s Aviation. Wish you better days ahead without the menace of the COVID-19 global pandemic and many happy landings when the Indian civil aviation industry is back on track!

Jai Hind!