By Vijay Grover
Months after the new civilian helicopter policy was launched in October 2021 by the Government of India, the sector has got a much needed shot in the arm. At the recently concluded civil aviation event Wings India 2022, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia reiterated the thrust his ministry is giving to encourage the new helicopter policy. Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “I believe helicopters also require the impetus, which is why we have come up with a new Helicopter policy where all TNLC and RNLC charges have been scrapped, land rates for hangars have been reduced, where three dedicated corridors have been put in place for pure helicopter traffic where we have ensured that we try and build about HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Management Services) on India’s national highways” while addressing delegates at Wings India 2022.
Abolition of landing charges and parking deposits to boost commercial helicopter operations in the country is the biggest boost for the sector and could see the cost of operations of general aviation and civil aviation helicopters by about 20%, feels the industry. Captain Arun Sharma, Managing Director Aviators, told IA&D, “No parking charges is a very welcome change, because we were paying 15,000 for handling and since we now can now handle on our own, it goes off. It will help the business and the consumer as were passing it on to them”. Capt Arun Sharma is confident that the new policy will spur growth as some of the archaic norms which equated rules for aircraft and helicopters will be done away with, facilitating smoother operations of helicopters.
Under the new policy, the government has put together a dedicated helicopter acceleration cell, “Heli Sewa,” in the Civil Aviation Ministry to examine the helicopter industry’s issues. As part of the policy, there will be no landing charges or parking deposits for heliports or helicopter companies. To begin with, four heli hubs and training units are planned to be set up in Mumbai, Guwahati, Delhi, and Bengaluru. Taking helicopter services further, the Ministry of Civil Aviation intends to set up helicopter corridors in 10 cities and 82 routes in the country.
The civil aviation market is proliferating in the country and has drawn many aviation giants towards India as many business class people are buying their own personal aircraft and jets. However, despite their advantages, helicopters have lagged behind in penetration, says Capt Arun Sharma, a former helicopter pilot. Sharma’s company Aviators had mooted the idea of fractional aircraft ownership nearly two decades ago, but the project never took off due to regulatory issues. Capt Sharma says the time is ripe for the expansion of helicopter operations but warns that the low-cost seat selling idea may not work.
Capt Arun Sharma’s idea that multiple helicopter owners can claim depreciation benefits by having fractional ownership will encourage many companies to purchase/lease helicopters to reach tier 2 and tier 3 cities faster.
Till now, the only time the Indian skies see helicopters buzzing around frequently is during elections when top politicians use the helicopters very often to carry out multiple campaign rallies in a day. If one goes by the numbers, India has only about 250 civil registered helicopters in the country.
Most of these are operating with Non-Scheduled Operators who hold a significant chunk of helicopters in numbers, which is about 200 plus in numbers; the balance operates under the private and government category. Compared to even large countries like Brazil and Australia that have over 1,200 and 2,000 helicopters, respectively, India’s helicopter strength is minimal. A reason why the New Helicopter Policy evokes a lot of excitement in the general aviation sector which hopes that a section of the society will take helicopters to commute from metro cities to difficult to reach terrains nearby.
The recent Intent of Cooperation (IOC) agreement was signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL) for the purchase or long term lease for 20 helicopters, 10 each civil variants of ALH Dhruv and Light Utility Helicopters at the Wings India-2022 at Hyderabad is an indicator of the expansion planning in progress.
Bengaluru based Thumby Aviation, which runs helicopter charters, is hoping that the new Helicopter Policy will be a milestone event in the general aviation history of India.
Speaking to IA&D, Govind Nair, CEO of Thumby Aviation, says, “It will boost the country’s tourism potential and is a very progressive policy that will help create more helipads and ground handling infrastructure on the ground. We anticipate that new business models will be created, opening new business avenues that will make more people fly by choppers”. Unlike Aviators founder Capt Arun Sharma, Govind Nair is more excited about the per seat flying concept being a reality soon. “We definitely see a potential in this, and having pioneered Electronic City to BIAL service as early as 2017, we are confident that it will become a reality soon enough.”
As per the available data, the total number of civil helicopters worldwide is more than 34,000, and India accounts for just one percent. Even Brazil, one of the developing countries, is much ahead of India in helicopters. The Brazilian city of Sao Paulo alone has 750 helicopters. But despite all odds, the market and industry in India remain optimistic.
The establishment of joint ventures in India by helicopter manufacturing firms like Agusta Westland, Sikorsky and Eurocopter are positive moves.
About 40 percent of civil helicopters across the globe are used for corporate business, 29 percent for emergency medical services and law enforcement, 16 percent for offshore operations and the balance for other operations such as heli-tourism, adventure sports, aerial surveys etc. India sees the most helicopter usage in the energy sector, both onshore and offshore. The remaining are used in corporate charters, medical evacuation), heli-tourism, agriculture and other services.
So while large organisations like HAL are still assessing and evaluating the opportunity offered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to develop the HAL airport in Bengaluru as a Heliport, the Jakkur Aerodrome in Bengaluru has got off the blocks. The aerodrome, which was equipped with three helipads, has already drawn up plans to have eight helipads on its campus apart from extending the runway. It is also shoring up the ground resources to simplify helicopter charter companies to operate from its premises.
So while the Indian skies await the increase in rotor whizz, the new policy promises to throw up thousands of new job opportunities for helicopter pilots.
