Depending on the fleet size and its age, airlines buy 30-50 per cent of the components that they need, and take the rest on lease. Expenditure on spares and components is a considerable part of engineering and maintenance, which account for over 9-10 per cent of the total operating expense of an airline. For instance, Air India, which has a large and ageing fleet, has to provide $35 million-$40 million for spare parts during any time of the year.
India's pioneer of low-cost carriers GR Gopinath is in talks with Cochin International Airport Limited, India's first privately operated airport, to set up a joint venture for dedicated cargo facilities across the country.
National carrier Air India's strategy to cut full-service flights and replace them with low-cost services by Air India Express on its West Asian routes has backfired. The passenger load factor of the flag carrier's low-cost subsidiary for West Asia has fallen a steep 11 percentage points over the last six months as a result of competition from new low-cost entrants and fare wars by incumbents. The PLF on the Dubai-India route fell from 83 to 78 per cent in the same period.
The government is coming out with a policy for setting up greenfield airports for general aviation in the next three to four months. It is also planning to introduce an air cargo policy soon.The broad contours of the policy for general aviation, which includes private charters and corporate jet operations, are more or less in line with the merchant airport policy.
The Delhi government has requested airlines to come up with a detailed note on how decrease in sales tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will lead to higher offtake of fuel from Delhi airport, before taking any measure for reduction in taxes. Airlines have been repeatedly making representations to the state government asking for a reduction in sales tax on ATF from the current 20 per cent to 4 per cent.
Sometime in the second half of this year, Vijay Mallya-controlled Kingfisher Airlines will start operating chartered flights with two helicopters in and around Mumbai. Later, it will also press into service a handful of very light jets.
The govt is likely to propose to the EU that it will validate security procedures in its airports before allowing passengers to carry duty-free goods to India. This is in retaliation to a similar proposal made by EU last year, which led to protests from companies operating duty-free shops in India. EU officials would have to validate the security systems at Indian airports before allowing transit passengers to buy at duty-free shops here, resulting in dispute between the two.
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