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Civil Aviation Report Transcript
Overview:
Air Traffic:
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) manages total 127 Airports in the country, which include 16 International Airports, 79 domestic airports, 24 civil enclaves at defense airfields and 8 custom declared airports. In 2007, 432.89 lakh people took to the skies, from the figure of 326.68 lakh in 2006. Domestic air passenger traffic in India registered a 10 per cent increase over the last year's first quarter with 11.90 million passengers traveling in various airlines during January-March period this year and over the same quarter in 2007, around 10.7 domestic passengers were carried by the scheduled airlines of India.
Jet Airways carried 2.54 million domestic passengers, followed by Air India with 1.64 million and Deccan 1.63 million in the first quarter of this year. Kingfisher carried 1.62 million passengers, Spice Jet 1.15 million and IndiGo 1.152 million. JetLite carried 0.79 million, GoAir 0.49 million and Paramount 0.142 million, said the government, revealing the latest air passenger statistics. Of all, IndiGo has doubled its share to 1.152 million.
Growth:
Indians are flying like never before within the country. The year 2007-08 has seen a massive growth in Civil Aviation Sector. There has been a 32.51% increases in passenger air traffic and India has jumped on 8th position in the world aviation market from 12th.
Privatization:
Privatization of International Airports is in offing through Joint Venture route. Three Greenfield airports are getting developed at Kochi, Hyderabad and Bangalore with major shareholding of private sector. The work on Bangalore airport is likely to commence shortly. Few selected non-metro airports are likely to be privatized.100% foreign equity has also been allowed in construction and maintenance of airports with selective approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
History:
The first commercial flight in India was made on February 18, 1911, when a French pilot Monseigneur Piguet flew airmails from Allahabad to Naini, covering a distance of about 10 km in as many minutes.
Tata Services became Tata Airlines and then Air-India and spread its wings as Air-India International. The domestic aviation scene, however, was chaotic. When the American Tenth Air Force in India disposed of its planes at throwaway prices, 11 domestic airlines sprang up, scrambling for traffic that could sustain only two or three. In 1953, the government nationalized the airlines, merged them, and created Indian Airlines. For the next 25 years JRD Tata remained the chairman of Air-India and a director on the board of Indian Airlines. After JRD left, voracious unions mushroomed, spawned on the pork barrel jobs created by politicians. In 1999, A-I had 700 employees per plane; today it has 474 whereas other airlines have 350.
For many years in India air travel was perceived to be an elitist activity. This view arose from the “Maharajah” syndrome where, due to the prohibitive cost of air travel, the only people who could afford it were the rich and powerful.
In recent years, however, this image of Civil Aviation has undergone a change and aviation is now viewed in a different light - as an essential link not only for international travel and trade but also for providing connectivity to different parts of the country. Aviation is, by its very nature, a critical part of the infrastructure of the country and has important ramifications for the development of tourism and trade, the opening up of inaccessible areas of the country and for providing stimulus to business activity and economic growth.
Until less than a decade ago, all aspects of aviation were firmly controlled by the Government. In the early fifties, all airlines operating in the country were merged into either Indian Airlines or Air India and, by virtue of the Air Corporations Act, 1953; this monopoly was perpetuated for the next forty years. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation controlled every aspect of flying including granting flying licenses, pilots, certifying aircrafts for flight and issuing all rules and procedures governing Indian airports and airspace. Finally, the Airports Authority of India was entrusted with the responsibility of managing all national and international air ports and administering every aspect of air transport operation through the Air Traffic Control. With the opening up of the Indian economy in the early Nineties, aviation saw some important changes. Most importantly, the Air Corporation Act was repealed to end the monopoly of the public sector and private airlines were reintroduced.
Significance of Air Transport:
Air transport is the most modern, the quickest and the latest addition to the modes of transport. Because of speed with which aero planes can fly, travel by air is becoming increasingly popular. As far as the world trade is concerned it is still dominated by sea transport because air transport is very expensive and is also unsuitable for carrying heavy, bulky goods. However, transportation of high value light goods and perishable goods is increasingly being done by air transport.
Open skies policy:
Need for Open Skies Policy:
A recurring demand often voiced by interested parties is that, in order to promote Travel & Tourism, India should adopt an Open Skies policy. It is argued that the current policy restricts the access of foreign airlines. As a result potential tourists are not offered a choice of airlines or seats when travelling to India. This problem is exacerbated during the holiday season when it is difficult, if not impossible, to get a seat either into the country or out of it. It is argued, therefore, that India should adopt an Open Skies approach to any foreign carrier wanting to fly into India, which literally means allowing them unlimited service, capacity and points of call.
Meaning of ‘Open Skies’:
At the outset we must point out that the concept of 'Open Skies' is much misunderstood in its meaning and implications. Strictly speaking Open Skies means unrestricted access by any carrier into the sovereign territory of a country without any written agreement specifying capacity, ports of call or schedule of services. In other words an Open Skies policy would allow the foreign airline of any country or ownership to land at any port on any number of occasions and with unlimited seat capacity. There would be no restriction on the type of aircraft used, no demand for certification, no regularity of service and no need to specify at which airports they would land. Defined in this manner, it is not surprising that Open Skies policies are adopted only by a handful of countries, most commonly those that have no national carriers of their own and that have only one or two airports. No sovereign country of any eminence practices Open Skies least of all the European Union, UK, USA, Japan, Australia or countries in South East Asia.
Bilateral Treaties:
However, almost 99 per cent of Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) follow the system of negotiated bilateral treaties determining the aviation relations between two sovereign Contracting parties. In fact, the bilateral aviation regime is considered the fundamental basis for a disciplined and regulated aviation system between the nations of the world. It provides not only regularity of operations through scheduled services but also stipulates the basis of ownership, number of seats to be utilized, type and certification of aircraft and visiting ports of call. The Bilateral Agreements also protect the different kinds of aviation Freedoms granted to contracting parties by specifying the reciprocal rights to be enjoyed by each.
Indian Bilateral Treaties:
Liberal approach in air services agreements:
In accordance with the policy of liberalization in the civil aviation sector and with a view to attract more foreign passengers, the Government has adopted a forward looking approach in the matter of grant of traffic rights under bilateral agreements with various foreign countries. The India-US aviation market has registered significant growth under the new revised Air Services Agreement signed between the two countries. During the year 2007, traffic rights were enhanced with Singapore, Cambodia, Jordan, UAE (Abu Dhabi/Dubai/Sharjah), Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Chile and Hong Kong. This would not only lead to more flights and better connectivity from these countries to India but also provide more competitive fares for passengers.
Air Traffic:
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) manages total 127 Airports in the country, which include 16 International Airports, 79 domestic airports, 24 civil enclaves at defense airfields and 8 custom declared airports. In 2007, 432.89 lakh people took to the skies, from the figure of 326.68 lakh in 2006. Domestic air passenger traffic in India registered a 10 per cent increase over the last year's first quarter with 11.90 million passengers traveling in various airlines during January-March period this year and over the same quarter in 2007, around 10.7 domestic passengers were carried by the scheduled airlines of India.
Jet Airways carried 2.54 million domestic passengers, followed by Air India with 1.64 million and Deccan 1.63 million in the first quarter of this year. Kingfisher carried 1.62 million passengers, Spice Jet 1.15 million and IndiGo 1.152 million. JetLite carried 0.79 million, GoAir 0.49 million and Paramount 0.142 million, said the government, revealing the latest air passenger statistics. Of all, IndiGo has doubled its share to 1.152 million.
Growth:
Indians are flying like never before within the country. The year 2007-08 has seen a massive growth in Civil Aviation Sector. There has been a 32.51% increases in passenger air traffic and India has jumped on 8th position in the world aviation market from 12th.
Privatization:
Privatization of International Airports is in offing through Joint Venture route. Three Greenfield airports are getting developed at Kochi, Hyderabad and Bangalore with major shareholding of private sector. The work on Bangalore airport is likely to commence shortly. Few selected non-metro airports are likely to be privatized.100% foreign equity has also been allowed in construction and maintenance of airports with selective approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
History:
The first commercial flight in India was made on February 18, 1911, when a French pilot Monseigneur Piguet flew airmails from Allahabad to Naini, covering a distance of about 10 km in as many minutes.
Tata Services became Tata Airlines and then Air-India and spread its wings as Air-India International. The domestic aviation scene, however, was chaotic. When the American Tenth Air Force in India disposed of its planes at throwaway prices, 11 domestic airlines sprang up, scrambling for traffic that could sustain only two or three. In 1953, the government nationalized the airlines, merged them, and created Indian Airlines. For the next 25 years JRD Tata remained the chairman of Air-India and a director on the board of Indian Airlines. After JRD left, voracious unions mushroomed, spawned on the pork barrel jobs created by politicians. In 1999, A-I had 700 employees per plane; today it has 474 whereas other airlines have 350.
For many years in India air travel was perceived to be an elitist activity. This view arose from the “Maharajah” syndrome where, due to the prohibitive cost of air travel, the only people who could afford it were the rich and powerful.
In recent years, however, this image of Civil Aviation has undergone a change and aviation is now viewed in a different light - as an essential link not only for international travel and trade but also for providing connectivity to different parts of the country. Aviation is, by its very nature, a critical part of the infrastructure of the country and has important ramifications for the development of tourism and trade, the opening up of inaccessible areas of the country and for providing stimulus to business activity and economic growth.
Until less than a decade ago, all aspects of aviation were firmly controlled by the Government. In the early fifties, all airlines operating in the country were merged into either Indian Airlines or Air India and, by virtue of the Air Corporations Act, 1953; this monopoly was perpetuated for the next forty years. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation controlled every aspect of flying including granting flying licenses, pilots, certifying aircrafts for flight and issuing all rules and procedures governing Indian airports and airspace. Finally, the Airports Authority of India was entrusted with the responsibility of managing all national and international air ports and administering every aspect of air transport operation through the Air Traffic Control. With the opening up of the Indian economy in the early Nineties, aviation saw some important changes. Most importantly, the Air Corporation Act was repealed to end the monopoly of the public sector and private airlines were reintroduced.
Significance of Air Transport:
Air transport is the most modern, the quickest and the latest addition to the modes of transport. Because of speed with which aero planes can fly, travel by air is becoming increasingly popular. As far as the world trade is concerned it is still dominated by sea transport because air transport is very expensive and is also unsuitable for carrying heavy, bulky goods. However, transportation of high value light goods and perishable goods is increasingly being done by air transport.
Open skies policy:
Need for Open Skies Policy:
A recurring demand often voiced by interested parties is that, in order to promote Travel & Tourism, India should adopt an Open Skies policy. It is argued that the current policy restricts the access of foreign airlines. As a result potential tourists are not offered a choice of airlines or seats when travelling to India. This problem is exacerbated during the holiday season when it is difficult, if not impossible, to get a seat either into the country or out of it. It is argued, therefore, that India should adopt an Open Skies approach to any foreign carrier wanting to fly into India, which literally means allowing them unlimited service, capacity and points of call.
Meaning of ‘Open Skies’:
At the outset we must point out that the concept of 'Open Skies' is much misunderstood in its meaning and implications. Strictly speaking Open Skies means unrestricted access by any carrier into the sovereign territory of a country without any written agreement specifying capacity, ports of call or schedule of services. In other words an Open Skies policy would allow the foreign airline of any country or ownership to land at any port on any number of occasions and with unlimited seat capacity. There would be no restriction on the type of aircraft used, no demand for certification, no regularity of service and no need to specify at which airports they would land. Defined in this manner, it is not surprising that Open Skies policies are adopted only by a handful of countries, most commonly those that have no national carriers of their own and that have only one or two airports. No sovereign country of any eminence practices Open Skies least of all the European Union, UK, USA, Japan, Australia or countries in South East Asia.
Bilateral Treaties:
However, almost 99 per cent of Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) follow the system of negotiated bilateral treaties determining the aviation relations between two sovereign Contracting parties. In fact, the bilateral aviation regime is considered the fundamental basis for a disciplined and regulated aviation system between the nations of the world. It provides not only regularity of operations through scheduled services but also stipulates the basis of ownership, number of seats to be utilized, type and certification of aircraft and visiting ports of call. The Bilateral Agreements also protect the different kinds of aviation Freedoms granted to contracting parties by specifying the reciprocal rights to be enjoyed by each.
Indian Bilateral Treaties:
Liberal approach in air services agreements:
In accordance with the policy of liberalization in the civil aviation sector and with a view to attract more foreign passengers, the Government has adopted a forward looking approach in the matter of grant of traffic rights under bilateral agreements with various foreign countries. The India-US aviation market has registered significant growth under the new revised Air Services Agreement signed between the two countries. During the year 2007, traffic rights were enhanced with Singapore, Cambodia, Jordan, UAE (Abu Dhabi/Dubai/Sharjah), Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Chile and Hong Kong. This would not only lead to more flights and better connectivity from these countries to India but also provide more competitive fares for passengers.
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