REGIONAL AIR SAFETY: HELICOPTERS: AVIATION: RELATIONSHIP SCANTY TIME TO GO LOCAL GONE SOUR NUMBERS P 13 P 18 P 24 FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012 `100.00 (INDIA-BASED BUYER ONLY) WWW.SPSAIRBUZ.NET ANAIRBUZ EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE ON CIVIL AVIATION FROM INDIA ❚ CIVIL AVIATION OUTLOOK 2012 ❚ SHARKLETS: MAKING OF A NEW ERA ❚ AIRCRAFT PROFILE: ATR A CLASS APART! AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24198 In reality, the PurePower ® Engine delivers today. Get the free app at http://gettag.mobi With 20 years of development and hundreds of hours of testing, Pratt & Whitney PurePower Engines are more than just a leap of faith. These proven, dependable engines are tested and flying today, providing next-generation benefits. With up to 20% lower operating costs, half the noise and dramatically reduced emissions, these engines can save operators up to $1.5 million per aircraft per year. Discover real engines that are Flight Years Ahead™. At PurePowerEngines.com. It’s in our power.™ PurePower_WhitePaper_SPs.indd 1 1/12/12 11:06 AM Client: Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines Ad Title: Pure Power Engine Delivers Today Publication: SP’s Air Buzz Trim: 210 mm x 267 mm • Bleed: 220 mm x 277 mm • Live: 180 mm x 226 mm TABLE OF CONTENTS REGIONAL AIR SAFETY: HELICOPTERS: AVIATION: RELATIONSHIP SCANTY TIME TO GO LOCAL GONE SOUR NUMBERS Cover: P 13 P 18 P 24 Jackie Chan’s Embraer Legacy 650 FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012 `100.00 (INDIA-BASED BUYER ONLY) WWW.SPSAIRBUZ.NET jet, with his name and the Chinese ANAIRBUZ EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE ON CIVIL AVIATION FROM INDIA ❚ CIVIL AVIATION OUTLOOK 2012 ❚ SHARKLETS: MAKING OF A NEW ERA character for “dragon” on its tail, is on ❚ AIRCRAFT PROFILE: ATR display at the Singapore Airshow 2012 in capturing Chinese sales projected to grow 15 per cent a year. A CLASS APART! AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION Photograph: Embraer RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24198 SP's Airbuz Cover 01-2012 final.indd 1 24/02/12 2:46 PM OUTLOOK / 2012 P10 OpTIMISM AMIDST CRISIS Year 2011 was indeed a bad year for the Indian economy. While there is optimism that the airline industry in India should see a reversal of fortunes in 2012, the New Year could well bring with it a new set of challenges perhaps more daunting than those in the year gone by. AIR TRANSPORT / REGIONAL AVIATION P13 TIME TO GO LOCAL India has potential hubs aplenty but most are bereft of sufficient spokes. AIRCRAFT / WINGLETS P15 MAKING OF A NEW ERA Sharklets provide better take-off performance and rate-of-climb, higher optimum altitude, higher residual aircraft value and greater safety margins in the event of an engine failure. P21 LEARNING FROM CRISIS P24 ScANTY NUMBERS P26 GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER P30 FUELLING WOES DEPARTMENTS P3 A WORD FROM EDITOR P4 NEWSBRIEFS P8 FIRST P9 TECKNOW AIR TRANSPORT / SAFETY AIR TRANSPORT / PROFILE P32 FINALLY P18 RELATIONSHIP GONE SOUR P28 THE SUCCESS STORY A healthy relationship between pilots and With about 60 aircraft operating in the country, the management is extremely desirable the European turboprop manufacturer ATR is and contributes to harmonious work today the privileged partner for Indian regional culture and safer cockpits. market development. 2 • SP’S AIRBUZ • Issue 1 • 2012 www.spsaIrbuz.net G A WORD FROM EDITOR PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jayant Baranwal EDITOR Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey ASSISTANT GROUP EDITOR R. Chandrakanth (Bengaluru) SENIOR COPY-EDITOR & CORRESPONDENT Sucheta Das Mohapatra CONTRIBUTORS Dr Mani Sishta, B.N. Gokhale, HE YEAR GONE BY was the centenary of civil aviation in India, but R. Srinivasan, Group Captain A.K. Sachdev, ironically it has not been a particularly happy one for the industry and there Arun Lohiya, Group Captain Joseph Noronha, appears to be no particular reason to celebrate. Despite the handsome and Captain Ajit Agtey, S.R. Swarup, Vasuki Prasad, J.T. Nayaham, Mahesh Acharya sustained growth in passenger traffic, barring IndiGo, all other airlines con- Air Commodore (Retd) K.B. Menon tinued to pile up losses with Air India and Kingfisher in the lead. The ad- Europe Alan Peaford, Phil Nasskau versities that continued to batter the industry were attributable to a large CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR extent to the unreasonable, archaic, insensitive and stringent government Jayant Baranwal Tpolicies as also the debilitating bureaucratic control. These factors serve as the major PLANNING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT impediments in the path to prosperity or even to the survival of the airline industry. Executive Vice President: Rohit Goel Even while most of the airlines were grappling with their wobbling business models, ADMIN & COORDINATION the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) delivered another blow to the airlines Bharti Sharma, Survi Massey by way of a scathing audit report on the financial distress in the industry especially in SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Air India and Kingfisher Airlines. The report focused on the impact of the poor financial Anoop Kamath state of the airlines on their functioning and the possibility of compromise with air safety. GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Apart from the fact that the audit report by the DGCA would have come as a shocker for Vimlesh Kumar Yadav, the industry, it had the potential to seriously dent the confidence of the travelling public. Sonu Singh Bisht Strangely enough, there has been no perceptible drop in the level of passenger traffic. SALES & MARKETING A part of civil aviation in India that is lagging far behind is the rotary wing segment. In this Director Sales & Marketing: Neetu Dhulia issue, joining us for the first time, B.S. Pawar, a veteran helicopter pilot, delves into the difficul- Head Vertical Sales: Rajeev Chugh ties that have stymied the growth of civil helicopter industry in India. Apart from the usual SP’s websiTES problems of high input costs, the growth of the helicopter fleet is adversely affected by the Sr Web Developer: Shailendra Prakash Ashish regulatory framework that is inclined to club rotary wing operations with airlines thus killing Web Developer: Ugrashen Vishwakarma its flexibility in operations altogether. However, there are indications that the government is © SP Guide Publications, 2012 seized of the problem and has the intention of addressing the issues involved. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION Joseph Noronha goes on to examine as to how lack of small airports is affecting the Inland: `600 • Foreign: US$180 growth of regional aviation. The country’s airlines generally seem content to ignore the E-mail: [email protected] smaller towns and focus on the more lucrative metro-to-metro routes. As a result, the re- LETTER TO EDITOR gional market is woefully underserved. While the government appears to be moving for- [email protected] ward to take up the development of 30 additional airports in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, apart FOR ADVERTISING DETAILS CONTACT from the 35 non-metro airports already developed, SpiceJet has taken the lead to introduce [email protected] [email protected] the Bombardier Q400, their latest workhorse to serve the regional aviation market compet- [email protected] ing with the ATR that have been dominating the market since these aircraft appeared on SP GUIDE PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD the Indian scene in 1999 and continue to occupy a position of pre-eminence today. While A-133 Arjun Nagar (Opposite Defence Colony), the competition will be tough for both the OEMs, it will certainly be to the advantage of New Delhi 110 003, India. the air traveller patronising regional aviation. Noronha also examines the huge potential Tel: +91 (11) 24644693, 24644763, 24620130 for MRO in India with the strength of the commercial fleet expected to rise. Fax: +91 (11) 24647093 Writing from Bengaluru, Vasuki Prasad looks at the latest of innovations on the Airbus Email: [email protected] 320 by way of Sharklets that as per the company, is expected to lower fuel burn by 3.5 per cent. BENGALURU, INDIA These and more in this issue. Welcome aboard and happy landings in the year ahead! 534, Jal Vayu Vihar, Kammanhalli Main Road Bengaluru 560043, India. Tel: +91 (80) 23682534 www.spguidepublications.com Owned, published and printed by Jayant Baranwal, printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt Ltd and Published at A-133, Arjun Nagar (Opposite Defence Colony), New Delhi 110 003, India. B.K. Pandey All rights reserved. Editor SP’S AIRBUZ • Issue 1 • 2012 • 3 Earlier, Buffet had admitted it was one of his few indulgences. Subse- quently, what elevated the business jet from a luxury toy to what is increas- ingly seen as a vital corporate tool? In the US, hundreds of Fortune 500 com- panies now flaunt their own aircraft, with companies arguing that this vital conveyance saves time and boosts pro- ductivity.NEWS A recentBRIEFS CNN report quoted ( INDUSTRY aircraft. Both the Boeing 787 Dreamliner vice with the airline. Southwest will be the and the 777 Freighter offer highly attractive launch customer for the Boeing 737 MAX. operating economics and will facilitate our Along with the 200 of these jetliners already HONG KONG AIRLINES ORDERS AIRBUS A380 global expansion plans by allowing us to on order, the new order by Southwest will The world’s largest passenger commercial transport passengers and cargo into new constitute the largest order in the history aircraft manufacturer Airbus has received global markets from our hub in Abu Dhabi.” of the Boeing Aircraft Company. These new an order from Hong Kong Airlines for 10 aircraft are expected to be delivered begin- A380 valued at $3.8 billion at list prices. The HELICOPTERS FROM EUROCOPTER ning this year and would go up to 2022 and order takes A380 backlog to 188 planes and In December last year, the Royal Malaysian will replace older jetliners such as 737-300.