Mumbai:
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(From L-R) Vijay Mallya, Lakshmi Mittal, Ratan Tata and Sun TV's Dayanidhi Maran are just some of the private jet owners who will be affected |
Arrive in your own time.... Arrive in style. It's a favourite line for private jet owners. But much to their agony and the delight of regular passengers, flying restrictions have ensured that private jets cannot operate from Mumbai and New Delhi during four peak hours everyday.
This has been done to allow scheduled airlines to operate smoothly. A Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) communiqué recently issued to the air traffic controllers at Mumbai and New Delhi states that except for an emergency situation, there would be no private aircrafts flying.
Messed up schedules
"This has been done to ensure the smooth movement of passenger aircrafts. As a regulatory body it is the DGCA's objective to ensure smooth operations at Mumbai and New Delhi," the director general DGCA Kanu Gohain said. Sources at DGCA said there were several instances when private jets had messed up schedules for regular passenger aircrafts. "The rate of go-around (when an aircraft all set to land has to circle the airport due to a last minute hitch) had shot up forcing the civil aviation ministry to act," a DGCA official said.
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The Falcon 2000, the aircraft popular with Ratan Tata |
Charter operators are sceptical of the decision. "The restrictions are slotted during peak hours making it difficult for corporate fliers," rued Atul Khekade, CEO of private air-charter service provider Airnetz Aviation. The flying restrictions have severely affected plans of operators like Airnetz to make private jets available in the least possible time. "Nowadays, corporate fliers are compelled to spend a night in a hotel before returning the next morning," Khekade said.
Strange rule
"It's a strange rule. In New Delhi, despite there being the third runway, we have no respite," said a former Taj Air pilot. A senior Tata executive confessed that corporate houses had no choice but to fly out of Mumbai at 5 am. "Most private jets are slotted for early morning take offs between 7 am and 8 am and late night landings," general manager (aerodrome), Mumbai, M G Jhungare said.
GMR Aviation head Amit Sinha said, "There have been instances where our clients have gone back to flying by scheduled airlines due to a problem with timings." According to Sinha, fliers of private jets look at it purely for convenience. "When that is not available, fliers instantly start looking for alternatives," he said.
Third largest number of millionaires
Aviation expert Leonard Knaapen observed that the rising number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in India made it an attractive market. "India has the third largest number of millionaires in the world after the US and Germany. But instead of giving this more thrust, the government is just complicating private flying," Knaapen pointed out.
A study conducted by private jet manufacturer, Bombardier says that for every 400 hours a businessman flies his jet, he saves almost a month's time. A Bombardier executive said that while Laxmi Mittal's 'Global Express' allows him to skip crowded international airports in Britain, it has met with turbulence in India. "The aircraft may have cost Mittal over Rs 200 crores, but his quick movement has already saved him several times that money," the executive said.
THE HIGH FLIERS
Vijay Mallya: Airbus Corporate Jet
C Sivasankaran: Boeing Business Jet
Lakshmi Mittal: Bombardier Global Express, Gulfstream GV
Mukesh Ambani: Bombardier Global Express, Falcon 900EX, Airbus Corporate Jet
Anil Ambani: Falcon 2000, Bombardier Global Express, Falcon 7X
KP Singh (DLF): Gulfstream GIV
HS Narula, Pramod Mittal: Embraer Legacy
Ratan Tata: Falcon 2000
Gautam Singhania: Challenger 604
Tulsi Tanti, Narendra Kumar Baldota: Citation XL
Other private jet fliers include the Sun TV's Maran family, Bharat Forge, Videocon and DLF
