Pilots Blog

Indian corporates take to private aviation

According to the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation, 157 new aircraft worth around $1 billion will become operational in India over the next twelve months. Once registration and permit formalities are complete India will be in fourth position in the market for corporate jets, ahead of China. According to Kapil Kaul, head of the South Asia Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation who spoke at MIU's Indian Business Aviation Expo (IBAE) earlier this year, "India will have one of the youngest fleets of business jets and would emerge as one of the largest buyers of new business aircraft, dominated by light jets offering faster connectivity."

The rush to buy bizjets has been led by India's increasingly affluent industrialists and the rising tide of millionaires and billionaires. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit India will have over 400,000 millionaires by 2017 and they are in a hurry and in no mood to hang around at the famously congested hub airports.

However, India is not just a consumer of GA hardware, they are fast becoming leading aerospace component and aircraft manufacturers, with Tata and Mahindra and Mahindra soon to supply a range of aircraft and support services for some of the more rugged and out of the way destinations. Add into the mix the established IT, software and knowledge based industries and it is easy to see that India will shortly become a significant player in the global aerospace sector.

The Indian Business Aviation Expo (IBAE) 2011 takes place in New Delhi, 21-23 February 2011: http://www.miuevents.com/ibae2011