A Word from Editor

The Global Aviation Summit 2019 was held in Mumbai from January 15 to 16 this year. The two-day event, the first of its kind, witnessed participation by over 900 representatives from 80 countries across the world including Ministers of Civil Aviation, members of Civil Aviation Authorities, delegates and exhibitors. The Indian civil aviation establishment was represented by the Minister of Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu who was accompanied by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha. They provided the gathering a glimpse of India’s policy efforts and vision to shepherd one of the fastest growing sectors in the Indian economy. The aviation industry in India has been experiencing exponential growth and the domestic aviation market has been registering an impressive upward trajectory for the last four years. Unveiling a Drone Ecosystem Policy Roadmap and a National Air Cargo Policy, Minister Suresh Prabhu highlighted the need for technology to pervade all aspects of aviation. He said that a summit of this stature is necessary to ensure collective thinking that helps in combating challenges of the aviation sector and bring about greater reforms. This issue of SP’s AirBuz carries a comprehensive review of the Global Aviation Summit 2019 by Vishal Thapar of SP Guide Publications.

Writing in this issue of the magazine on the subject of “Prospects for the Indian Commercial Aviation Market”, Satyendra Pandey, a well known professional in the domain of civil aviation, is of the view that in order to harness the growth prospects of Indian civil aviation industry fully, problems have to be addressed with deliberate and decisive measures. With these measures in place, for growth in the Indian civil aviation market, sky will be the limit.

One segment of the Indian aerospace industry that has enormous potential for growth is the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry especially for airliners. As per Sukhchain Singh, a veteran of the Indian Air Force experienced in this field, India will require 1,750 new passenger and cargo aircraft over the next 20 years to meet with an exponential rise in both passenger and freight traffic. This will generate a sizable market for MRO for aero engines which will boost the Make in India effort as well. This issue of SP’s AirBuz carries a detailed analysis of the subject by the author in his article entitled “Aero-Engine MRO : Market Outlook in India”.

There is concerted effort by the leading original equipment manufacturers of aero engines in the world to produce larger and more powerful engines; but with enhanced fuel efficiency to achieve better fuel economy in operations. Efforts are on to introduce biofuels to power jet engines as also to develop hybrid engines combining electric powered with gas turbine engine. There is a detailed write up on the subject of “Large Jet Engines — Power with Fuel Efficiency” in which Anil Chopra catalogued the latest advancements in this field and all that is unfolding to make aero engines of the future not only more powerful, but more economical to operate.

All this and more in this issue of SP’s AirBuz. Welcome aboard and do visit us at Aero India Air Show 2019 in Hall Number E, Stall Number 1.5.

Wish you many happy landings!

Jai Hind!