New aircraft registrations have been on the rise ever since the civil aviation ministry abolished the aircraft acquisition committee and eased import of aircraft in March. The ministry abolished the previously tedious regime of getting a clearance to import aircraft and, in the three months since then, (April?June) already 23 aircraft have been registered in the country, as per data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
In the same period last year, there were 18 new aircraft registrations, out of which five planes of SpiceJet were cleared for import before the period under review but were only registered in June 2012.
Experts say the abolition of the aircraft acquisition committee has proved to be the key booster for new aircraft registrations. ?The removal of the aircraft acquisition committee approval has removed one major bottleneck in the approval process to import an aircraft,? said Vinay Pathak, managing director of Invision Air, an operator of private jets.
However, Pathak added that the process has only been eased for existing operators. ?By no means can one state that the abolition of the committee will now open floodgates,? said Pathak. ?For existing operators, adding aircraft will become easier but, for new operators, the process is still very long. Although the committee has been abolished, civil aviation ministry’s approval is still required. So, this still involves typical bureaucratic steps to get a minister’s approval.?
Similar views were expressed by Rajeev Wadhwa, chairman and chief executive of Baron Luxury and Lifestyles, a company offering luxury private jet charters. ?The ministry’s decision will largely benefit commercial aviation and compaies like AirAsia where bulk aircraft purchases are made,? said Wadhwa. ?In general, the impact has been limited so far. Private jet sales have also been slow so far due to the weak economic conditions, but, in future, the abolition of the aircraft acquisiton committee will definitely help general aviation.?
Currently, 1,483 planes and helicopters are registered in the country. While the planes are for commercial, private and flying training schools’ use, most helicopters are registered with state governments and charter operators.
The safety oversight of the aircraft and helicopters is done by DGCA. The regulator is soon going to don a new avatar as civil aviation authority, the Bill for which has been cleared by the Cabinet. The CAA is supposed to be a financially autonomous body.
DGCA officials said that, in the future, there are plans to levy a fee of around R1 lakh per aircraft to generate income for the CAA.