Aero India - Opportunities Abound

Aero India 2011 will serve as a platform for companies and airlines to enhance networking with the Indian and foreign aviation industry. But does India need two air shows? Apart from duplication of costs and resources, other collateral damage includes airlines and general aviation stakeholders shying away from Aero India and opting to attend India Aviation.

The first commercial flight in India took place on February 18, 1911 between Allahabad and Naini. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) plans to celebrate the event by declaring 2011-12 as the Civil Aviation Centenary Year. That is not to understate JRD Tata’s pioneering initiative in founding Tata Airline, India’s first, in 1932, and setting on track India’s airline industry which grew to nine air transport companies at the time of independence. In 1953, the government established a joint sector company Air India International. The Air Corporations Act nationalised all nine airlines to form one domestic and one international airline. It was only in the 1990s that an “open sky” policy that facilitated entry of air taxi companies as non-scheduled operators was introduced. In 1994, private operators were permitted to provide scheduled air services ending the monopoly of the national carriers. However, the enthusiasm that the “open sky” regime generated did not translate into a real “open sky” as the players’ involved lacked vision, managerial capability and the acumen to turn an opportunity into success. Several operators fell by the wayside and the national carriers continued to rule the roost. It was only after another wave of liberalisation which began early last decade that private airlines came to the fore.

Low Cost: The New Wave

Traditionally, the airline industry was associated with sophistication, class, elegance and style. Captain Gopinath’s Air Deccan set the template for the second wave of liberalisation with a model euphemistically termed as “low cost.” This caught the fancy of a price-sensitive nation and spawned other carriers modeled on the Air Deccan philosophy. Tragically, the government remained indifferent to this bold experiment as jet fuel ruled 60 per cent higher than the average global price due to a high tax regime. The low-cost airlines bled painfully. However, the low-cost model has proved to be a survivor with airline managements acknowledging its supremacy and converting wholly or partly to low-cost character. The approach of “low cost” airline managements towards non-essentials is distinctive. This is also reflected in the scale of their participation in air shows.

Origin of Aero India

Aero India 2011, to be held from February 9 to 13 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, has its origins in a privately organised aviation exhibition, essentially a trade show in 1991 at Hotel Ashoka by Convex, a Delhi-based company. Two years later, the show called Avia India was held on a larger scale at Yelahanka. Those were the times when the aviation industry in India was dominated by the military and the public sector. Soon the government stepped in and the first Aero India air show was organised in 1996 by the Department of Defence Production & Supplies under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) duly supported by the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Department of Space and the Government of Karnataka. In December 1998, the second show in the series witnessed substantial participation by 174 aerospace companies of which 20 were Indian. Although miniscule, a beginning had nevertheless been made. On account of the sanctions in the wake of Pokhran-II, participation by the US companies was restricted to the commercial divisions of Boeing and Bell Helicopter. Both these companies were supporting sizeable fleets of civil aircraft in India. After 1998, due to climatic considerations, it was decided to shift the event to February, a month known for moderate temperatures and clear skies. Hence, the next air show, which was held in February 2001, did not register significant increase in participation over the 1998 event owing to the US sanctions again. However, while the number of participants increased from 194 to 229, representation by Indian companies multiplied threefold.

Aero India 2003 had 250 Indian and foreign companies participating, dominated by the aerospace industries of Russia and France. There was a marginal increase in the US presence possibly inspired by the IAF’s mega tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA). Lifting of sanctions, globalisation of the Indian economy, favourable policy changes related to foreign direct investment and the incorporation of the Indian private sector in the defence manufacturing activity paving the way to joint ventures, injected a new spirit into the air show. Aero India 2005 was marked by the presence of a large delegation of aerospace majors from the US with distinct military bias signalling a clear shift in its policy towards India. There were 380 exhibitors representing the world’s leading aerospace industries and reflecting a healthy growth in the participation by the Indian private industry. Aero India 2007 witnessed a ballooning in the number of participants to 500, with the strength of Indian companies rising to nearly 200. At least 45 foreign delegations including one from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and 30 Air Force Chiefs from across the world also attended the show. Multi-billion dollar programme to modernise the IAF and the unprecedented boom in the Indian civil aviation industry, presented exciting opportunities that drew aerospace majors from around the world boosting the status of Aero India as one of the major air shows in the world. By Aero India 2009, the event was acknowledged as the world’s fourth largest show of its kind. New events were added on to include vintage aircraft show, space pavilion, business meetings and aerospace HRD focus.