Travelling in India provides a stark reminder of why business aviation should succeed in the country. Crowded, chaotic roads are the norm, as bullock carts, lightweight motorcycles and overloaded trucks miraculously manage to avoid each other - most of the time - while competing with cars for the same inadequate road space. Trains are also slow and even the process of buying tickets is made discouragingly difficult by the overgrown bureaucratic process in which India excels.
With all those factors at work on the ground, travelling by air should be a no-brainer for the time-poor. But, as many aviation companies that have tried to push into India have discovered, there are substantial hurdles. There are nearly 450 airports in the country, but only 100 are in use. Both the taxation and regulatory regimes make it difficult to buy and operate aircraft. And, where changes are being made, the government is more focused on commercial aviation than unscheduled operations - India is the ninth largest aviation market in the world by passenger numbers, with 121m domestic and 41m international passengers a year, and is expected to climb to third place within four years. But despite all that, the sector is growing. Last year, there were about 165 business jets in India, making it second only to China in the Asia Pacific region for numbers of private jets.
11/10/13 Financial Times/moneycontrol.com
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With all those factors at work on the ground, travelling by air should be a no-brainer for the time-poor. But, as many aviation companies that have tried to push into India have discovered, there are substantial hurdles. There are nearly 450 airports in the country, but only 100 are in use. Both the taxation and regulatory regimes make it difficult to buy and operate aircraft. And, where changes are being made, the government is more focused on commercial aviation than unscheduled operations - India is the ninth largest aviation market in the world by passenger numbers, with 121m domestic and 41m international passengers a year, and is expected to climb to third place within four years. But despite all that, the sector is growing. Last year, there were about 165 business jets in India, making it second only to China in the Asia Pacific region for numbers of private jets.
11/10/13 Financial Times/moneycontrol.com
