Since February, a Cessna Citation CJ2 corporate jet, which on a good day can fly up to 1,700 miles nonstop, has been mostly lying idle at the Delhi airport. The aircraft belongs to developer Supertech Group, which has leased it for Rs 40 lakh a month. Yes, it is the same company that reportedly told the Supreme Court it would face ruin were it to immediately repay customers looking to exit a disputed residential project in Noida.
Supertech wants to use the aircraft to carry its executives to projects located in north India and liaise with government officials. It also harbours a strong desire to enter the charter business.
But the company needs to first receive a non-scheduled operator's permit (NSOP) from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). A year has passed since it applied for one. As it waits for the permit, Supertech has been losing a humongous Rs 60 lakh a month since February - — it has to also pay parking and maintenance fees — according to director Mohit Arora. (He denied that the company said it would face ruin or showed an unwillingness to pay customers.)
Supertech's jet and ergo, its aviation dreams have been shackled by a blizzard of rules contained in the DGCA's Air Operator Certification Manual. The 267-page thick rulebook, also called CAP 3100, lays down 36 checklists for each operator. Each lists additional compliance tasks and resultant checks, resuresulting in a regulatory quagmire for aviation entrepreneurs.
10/08/14 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times
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Supertech wants to use the aircraft to carry its executives to projects located in north India and liaise with government officials. It also harbours a strong desire to enter the charter business.
But the company needs to first receive a non-scheduled operator's permit (NSOP) from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). A year has passed since it applied for one. As it waits for the permit, Supertech has been losing a humongous Rs 60 lakh a month since February - — it has to also pay parking and maintenance fees — according to director Mohit Arora. (He denied that the company said it would face ruin or showed an unwillingness to pay customers.)
Supertech's jet and ergo, its aviation dreams have been shackled by a blizzard of rules contained in the DGCA's Air Operator Certification Manual. The 267-page thick rulebook, also called CAP 3100, lays down 36 checklists for each operator. Each lists additional compliance tasks and resultant checks, resuresulting in a regulatory quagmire for aviation entrepreneurs.
10/08/14 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times
