The economic case for VLJs has been under close scrutiny and, while a new—more direct—market has opened, those who jumped on the VLJ bandwagon now fi nd themselves teetering on wheels that are defi nitely buckling.

Horror stories of skies criss-crossed black with thousands of jet-powered aircraft in the hands of inexperienced pilots became staple media fare in the wake of the introduction of the Very Light Jet (VLJ) concept. The first of these VLJs have now entered service, with Cessna’s Citation Mustang taking that first-to-market mantle with the Eclipse 500 following close behind.

Media fears appear to have been unfounded. The economic case for VLJs has been under close scrutiny and, while a new—more direct—market has opened, those who jumped on the VLJ bandwagon now find themselves teetering on wheels that are definitely buckling. Yet, as the world’s financial markets start to falter, business aviation continues its rampage with huge order backlogs and the fruition of emerging markets such as India, China, Russia and other former Eastern Bloc countries.

While the launch of air taxi services has been fuelled by the introduction of the VLJs, manufacturers have been looking for greater investment and support to keep the low-cost service viable. India could have its own VLJ. Vijay Mallya has reportedly invested a whopping $200 million (Rs 395 crore) of his personal wealth for a 50 per cent stake in America’s Epic Aircraft. Once the certification process of Dynasty, Victory and Elite is done in the US, I want to manufacture them in India, he said, adding, The manufacturing base in India will largely target the Middle East and Asia, besides the domestic market. The Mallya link has definitely lend Epic a helping hand in the certification process. Epic President Rick Schrameck said, Vijay has already brought Airbus into the role of consultants for our certification programmes.