Mahindras take to skies with 5-seater aircraft

Mumbai: In what is being described as a milestone for both the country's indigenous civil aviation and the public-private partnership programmes, the software-to-transportation Mahindra group in collaboration with CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories has successfully test-flown a five-seater aircraft. The project, which took three years to move from the drawing board to the skies, is billed to revolutionize Indian transportation over the next decade.
The aircraft has completed five tests in the last ten days and it could take six months or more before it gets the FAR 23 certification, which guarantees the highest standards of safety. It could then go for commercial development. Once ready, each aircraft is expected to cost around $400,000 (about Rs 2 crore) and would also be the first such commercial aircraft in the world which offers a five seat configuration.
For the Mahindra group, it is the second leap into aviation after it acquired the Australia-based aircraft maker Gippsland Aviation about two years ago.
The running cost of the aircraft (in terms of per seat km) would be only 30% more expensive than a car, Hemant Luthra, chairman of Mahindra Aerospace said. The market for small aircraft (20 seats and below) started to de-grow in 2007 and stands at roughly 2000 a year and is expected to turn the corner in 2011 with a small growth, he said. The main competitors for Mahindra in the segment include Cessna and Piper.
The aircraft is ideal as an air taxi operator and for distances of about 300 km, Mahindra Aerospace CEO Arvind Mehra said.
14/09/11 Shubham Mukherjee/Times of india

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Categories: New Sep 2011