While much is said about infrastructure requirements for commercial airlines to stay in the growth path, surprisingly there is little or no mention of the infrastructure requirements to support the growth of general and business aviation.

India and China will continue to be the most favoured destination for all general and business aviation (GBA) aircraft manufacturers in the coming decade. With the recession and slowdown in western economies, GBA in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20-25 per cent over the next decade. By moderate estimates, India is expected to have approximately 2,000 GBA aircraft (both fixed and rotary wing) from the present number of 650 or so. This implies that about 1,300 GBA aircraft will be added over the next nine years, which translates into 125 aircraft every year or one aircraft every three days. These projections can keep the adrenalin pumping for any GBA aircraft manufacturer in the world.

But let’s take a pause and see whether we are ready to achieve this growth. The biggest challenge to the growth of GBA in India today is the lack of infrastructure and the lack of infrastructure planning. Infrastructure will only happen if we plan for it. Sadly, we haven’t even reached that stage yet. While much is said about infrastructure requirements for commercial airlines to stay in the growth path, surprisingly there is little or no mention of the infrastructure requirements to support the growth of GBA, which has some peculiar needs.

FBOs: Fixed base operator (FBO) is defined in Wikipedia as “a commercial business granted the right by the airport sponsor to operate and provide aeronautical services such as fuelling, hangarage, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight planning, etc and is primarily a service provided to general and business aviation.” FBOs are essential to the growth of GBA, as it provides the flexibility and standards business aviation is expected to operate. FBOs also provide crew rest facilities, lounges/conference rooms for passengers, custom and immigration services and maintenance facilities. It enables its users to transit smoothly without the delays of passenger terminals and all the hassles associated with it. FBOs normally operate out of airports dedicated to GBA, such as Teterboro in New York, Seletar in Singapore, and Luton in London, etc. In the least, even if operating out of regular airports, they have a totally separate access away from the regular passenger traffic.

Sadly, FBO planning and development in India is still at a very nascent stage. With the possible exception of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai, which operates a facility closest to being a FBO, there are no other FBOs in India which are either operational, or even in the process of being developed. The airport developers are still busy getting their act on commercial aviation together and don’t seem to have much idea or plans for FBO to development in the country. Ideally, international airports should have more than one FBO while regional airports which cater to GBA movements should have at least one FBO. Until this happens, GBA will not be able to grow in the manner it should.

Heliports: Helicopters the world over, fly from heliports which are normally located in the heart of the city. In cities like New York, helicopters transfer passengers from Newark and John F. Kennedy (JFK) international airport to and from the New York City heliport in the heart of Manhattan. In Sao Paulo, majority of the helicopters operate out of rooftop helipads, including single-engine helicopters. In India, the only functional heliport is Juhu in Mumbai, which has its own problems. Rohini Heliport in New Delhi, which was announced some time ago, is being developed by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL). However, the plans are still to be shared with the industry, especially the terms and charges for its use by non-PHHL helicopters, which I suspect may not be commercially viable for them. Meanwhile, helicopters continue to operate out of international airports, adding to the congestion. The overzealous security concerns do not allow ideal places like Safdarjang Airport to be used as a heliport, wherein there is a case to find ways to utilise it by establishing helicopter corridors which prohibit flying over no fly zones. Rules and regulations are restrictive and restrict the use of roof-top helipads.

Till the time heliports and city helipads are developed in India, the right utilisation of helicopters in roles such as emergency medical services (EMS), traffic control, disaster management, law enforcement, electronic news gathering, etc will remain a dream, and helicopters will continue to fly for passenger carrying from airport to airport.

MROs: There is a special need for maintenance repair overhaul (MROs) dedicated to GBA, which are different from MROs catering to commercial airlines. GBA MROs have peculiar requirement since they cater to a vast variety of aircraft and most of the flying is non-predictive, unlike airlines, thereby making maintenance and spares planning more difficult. GBA aircraft are also more sensitive to environment and need covered parking unlike the robust airliners, and therefore, there is a need to hangar them when parking for extended periods.

The present policy for GBA MROs (if any) leaves a lot to be desired. The airport developers have not yet revealed their plans about allocating space for hangars/MROs at their airports. The present premises being used by some GBA MROs in Delhi and Mumbai are under notice for being vacated, without any viable alternative plans in place. The duties and tax regime make it unviable for these MROs to stock spares in the country. In the absence of maintenance support, most GBA aircraft go to international destinations for heavy maintenance, thereby increasing the cost manifold and thus leading to loss of foreign exchange for the nation. This needs to be looked at urgently.

The list goes on. General aviation needs smaller airports to be developed near urban cities to encourage the sports and hobby flying activities. This segment is totally being ignored in our country. In the US, business aviation has grown on the strength of hobby and sports flying, which gave a strong foundation to the booming GBA industry of the country.

In our growing economy, general and business aviation need to grow along with commercial aviation. It is a tool for growth and for expanding the reach of business across the length and breadth of the country in remote areas, not well connected by commercial airlines, thereby adding to growth of gross domestic product (GDP). Unless we plan for it now, our projections will remain what they are—mere numbers to be used in seminars and conferences.

The writer is the Managing Director, Arrow Aircraft Sales and Charters Private Ltd and the President of Business Aircraft Operators’ Association (BAOA)