Biz aviation mkt takes off as pvt jet sales soar

Bangalore: Owning a private jet is no longer the prerogative of only the swish set. Home-bred entrepreneurs from tier-II cities are now hopping aboard to save travel time and focus more on businesses. Take the instance of Shamanur Shivashankarappa, chairman of Davanagere-based Shamanur Group. He trusts his personal set of wings-a Beechcraft King Air C90-to hop in and out of his sugar factories in Karnataka. The 80-year-old patriarch swears by his aircraft to travel to his sugar factory in Mudhol, near Bagalkot. "I prefer to fly from Davanagere to Belgaum and drive down to Mudhol. Hence, I save a lot of time," he says.
The business aviation market is already flush with buyers from the real estate sector, offshore gas exploration and mining companies. India's growing roster of high net worth individuals (HNIs) and demand from corporates are accelerating sales of business jets in the country. Sensing demand for flexible transportation, players like Embraer, Hawker Beechcraft, Gulfstream, Falcon and Bombardier are fighting for a share of the pie of India's burgeoning business aviation market.
According to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation , the general aviation market- comprising business jets, helicopters, turboprops and piston engines-is expected to touch $12 billion in aircraft sales by 2020 with a fleet size of 2,000 aircraft from the current 680.
22/04/11 Shilpa Phadnis/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2011