Biz class travel stays on right course

Mumbai: Ask Jose Eduardo Costas, vice-president (sales and marketing, Asia-Pacific) for Embraer executive jets, when they got the last order from India, he says it was November 2008.
"It was for a Legacy 600, a $28 million aircraft with a range of 3,400 nm. We cannot disclose the details of the owner. We hope to meet more potential customers in Mumbai this week,'' Costas said.
Legacy 600 is the same aircraft the Indian Prime Minister and other top dignitaries fly (the government has five of these). "Of the 155 Legacy 600 planes sold worldwide, 14 were delivered in Asia, of which eight were in India,'' he adds.
In India, though turbo-props have traditionally ruled the general aviation industry, there has been a marked preference for business jets in the last 3-4 years.
Currently, the country has over 80 business jets and about 100 turbo-prop aircraft. This trend is echoed by business jet manufacturers. "In the last two years, we saw a shift in market as the demand from non-traditional markets like those in Europe, Russia, Latin America and Asia picked up. Till then, the US accounted for 60% of our market. It has now come down to 50%. We plan to be major players in India by 2015,'' said Costas.
Currently, the country has over 80 business jets and about 100 turbo-prop aircraft. This trend is echoed by business jet manufacturers.
The top-bracket Lineage 1000 (priced at $45.25 million) got 20 firm orders worldwide from the time it was launched two years ago. Three of these have come from Asia, of which two are from India.
21/01/09 Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2009