Infrastructure development at Indian Airports...

By 2020, Indian airports are estimated to handle: 100 million passengers Including 60 million domestic passengers Cargo in the range of 3.4 million tonnes per annum. The Government’s airport modernisation plan proposes investments of US$ 9 billion by 2010. The Government plans to develop around 300 unused airstrips across India - a move that has raised projections for jets required for regional connectivity. Boeing and Airbus, along with Embraer (Brazil), Bombardier (Canada), Sukhoi (Russia), ATR (France) and BAE System (UK) are keen to tap the emerging regional jet market in the country. Increased activity in the maintenance and repair operations (MRO) sector has attracted many foreign companies. Lufthansa has tied up with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) to open an MRO facility for which it intends to invest US$ 23 million. Similarly, Boeing intends to invest US$ 100 million in a facility in Nagpur. With airport infrastructure being upgraded, non-aeronautical revenues (from malls, bookshops and entertainment centres) are expected to contribute almost 50 per cent to revenue of airports. Several pilot training shops are being set up across the country:

• Airbus has decided to set up an aviation school in Bangalore to train 1,000 pilots a year
• Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Jupiter Aviation is looking to set up a similar venture in Bangalore or Hyderabad
• Aviation consultant Praveen Paul has set up his own aviation school
• Deccan Aviation's venture with ATR, and Jet Airways and budget carrier UB Group planning to set up training centers.

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Snapshot of Aviation Industry in India

Growing at a rate of 18 per cent annually, the Indian civil aviation market holds out great promise for potential investors into the sector. India's civil aviation ministry expects 80 million passengers by 2020. The number of air travellers increased by a record 38.5 per cent in 2006-7. India anticipates doubling of passenger traffic over the next decade. The second largest aviation industry of the world, the Indian fleet comprised 370 aircrafts by the end of the year. And growth is expected to continue apace: the Government estimates that India’s fleet will reach approximately 500-550 aircraft by the end of 2010. India's civil aviation passenger growth, at 20 per cent, is among the highest in the world. The sector is slated to cruise far ahead of other Asian giants like China or even strong economies like France and Australia. The number of passengers who will be airborne by 2020 is a whopping 400 million. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) predicts that domestic traffic will grow at 25 per cent to 30 per cent a year until 2010 and international traffic growth by 15 per cent, taking the overall market to more than 100 million passengers by the end of the decade. Indian carriers have 480 aircraft on order for delivery by 2012, which compares with a fleet size of 310 aircraft operating in the country today. the number of air travellers is about 0.8 per cent of the population. By the time even 10 per cent of the population begins to fly, India will need about 5,000 aircraft.

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Jet flying in turbulent weather...

The problems for Jet Airways are incresing just like the taxes n surcharges on air tickets... it all started when Kingfisher changed its business model from being a LCC to a full service premium airline & started taking on Jet... Then came its IPO & the Jet sahres were listed above Rs. 1000 per share. But, only then its decision to acquire Air Sahara came. The market & even the department heads of Jet reacted to it very sharply (agianst the deal). Share prices tumbled by nearly 50%, which till now have not been able to touch its listed prices, many of the department heads left Jet . Every body knows the end result of the deal... Air Sahara becoming Jetlite. By that time there were so many entrants & tough competition from LCC's started eating up its profit. In the mean time, International routes were opened for Indian private carriers & Jet tried to capitalise on this oppurtunity. Jet purchased new aircrafts...exactly the same time competition came from Air India with its new image, services, planes, etc... Jet just trying to handle this situation, Kingfisher announced its acquisition of Air Deccan to directly take Jet Airways head on. As of now Jet & Kingfisher have equal market share of nearly 29% (with thier combined entities respectively). As of now, all the decisions taken by it are going against Jet's favour... but, if Jet is able to survive this turbulance, I believe that Jet will return to its earlier position not only in Indian Aviation but, it will show the same performance internationally.