Mumbai: Business jets seem to be losing shine as corporate trophies, largely because they are costly headaches to maintain. India's fleet of such aircraft shrank 2% in 2015 — the first contraction in 25 years, said operators and industry experts.
The market is set to contract further — as much as 40% of the planes are up for sale, they said. High taxes and poor infrastructure are the bane of business jets, they said. The Tata Group, GMR, GVK and Jindal Steel & Power are among those that have dropped plans of adding more business jets or deferred orders indefinitely, said three people aware of the matter. Others have resold planes in the secondary market immediately after taking delivery.
Charter businesses have been hit as well. Tata Sons-owned Business Jets India returned all four planes — three Hawker Beechcraft and one Cessna Citation — to lease companies earlier this year, said two of those cited above. The company is in the process of shutting operations in India, they added.
01/12/15 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
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The market is set to contract further — as much as 40% of the planes are up for sale, they said. High taxes and poor infrastructure are the bane of business jets, they said. The Tata Group, GMR, GVK and Jindal Steel & Power are among those that have dropped plans of adding more business jets or deferred orders indefinitely, said three people aware of the matter. Others have resold planes in the secondary market immediately after taking delivery.
Charter businesses have been hit as well. Tata Sons-owned Business Jets India returned all four planes — three Hawker Beechcraft and one Cessna Citation — to lease companies earlier this year, said two of those cited above. The company is in the process of shutting operations in India, they added.
01/12/15 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
