The new Civil Aviation Policy proposes a new scheme for regional connectivity to put tier-II and tier-III cities on the aviation map. Whether it will take flying to the masses or not only time will tell.
Flying should not be a rich man's preserve, neither should it be exclusive to those Indians who happen to be residing in large metros or state capitals. India has a teeming middle class of nearly 27 crore people according to NCAER but domestic air ticketing was just about eight crore last year. Getting every Indian to fly to a domestic destination at least once in her lifetime seems to be the core principle of the Civil Aviation Policy unveiled recently.
It proposes an ambitious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) which needs active involvement of state governments, hand holding by the Centre and of course, willingness on the part of airlines to mount flights to small, tier-II and tier-III cities which are currently not on the aviation map. The policy appears to be sound on intentions but it is the implementation where the real test lies.
Under the RCS, airlines will be provided viability gap funding by the Centre and states, myriad concessions such as significantly reduced taxation on jet fuel, free power and other amenities at airports so that they find such routes viable. But the catch is this: for availing all these concessions, the airlines will first have to induct smaller aircraft into their fleets to be able to serve these routes. And they cannot price tickets on such routes beyond Rs 2,500 per hour of flying. The aviation consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has calculated that cost per passenger to airlines on such routes will be over Rs 8,000 per hour of flying, based on its study with from two European aircraft manufacturers seating less than 20 passengers.
17/06/16 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Tribune
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Flying should not be a rich man's preserve, neither should it be exclusive to those Indians who happen to be residing in large metros or state capitals. India has a teeming middle class of nearly 27 crore people according to NCAER but domestic air ticketing was just about eight crore last year. Getting every Indian to fly to a domestic destination at least once in her lifetime seems to be the core principle of the Civil Aviation Policy unveiled recently.
It proposes an ambitious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) which needs active involvement of state governments, hand holding by the Centre and of course, willingness on the part of airlines to mount flights to small, tier-II and tier-III cities which are currently not on the aviation map. The policy appears to be sound on intentions but it is the implementation where the real test lies.
Under the RCS, airlines will be provided viability gap funding by the Centre and states, myriad concessions such as significantly reduced taxation on jet fuel, free power and other amenities at airports so that they find such routes viable. But the catch is this: for availing all these concessions, the airlines will first have to induct smaller aircraft into their fleets to be able to serve these routes. And they cannot price tickets on such routes beyond Rs 2,500 per hour of flying. The aviation consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has calculated that cost per passenger to airlines on such routes will be over Rs 8,000 per hour of flying, based on its study with from two European aircraft manufacturers seating less than 20 passengers.
17/06/16 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Tribune
