'Safety issue remains cause of concern for general aviation'

NEW DELHI: General aviation is a new sector in India with ample growth opportunities, but acute shortage of trained manpower remains a cause of concern for this rapidly growing business, DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan said today.

"The demand for business jets are high as they can fly to destinations not served by the scheduled airlines. The demand for jet will increase by 10 per cent as the market is growing.

"But safety is the major issue as the general aviation aircraft are more at risk because of weather and other problems like acute shortage of trained manpower," Bhushan said addressing a gathering.

The DGCA chief was addressing a seminar on 'General Aviation: Growth, Opportunity and Challenges' organised by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce here.

Business jets are no longer seen a luxury as they are in demand for chartered business, tourism and medical, he said.

Acknowledging that the scheduled airlines were going through a difficult patch, Bhushan said "our biggest challenge is to ensure safety."

He said aviation sector has faced two-years of rough patch but now the situation is improving as India stands fourth, after the US, China and Japan, in terms of volume of domestic air passengers.

"India is witnessing the fastest growth in the world. By 2020, the number of passengers carried by Indian airlines are expected to around 150 to 180 million. The number of passengers travelled has gone up by 17 per cent as compared to the last year. Growth is taking place but it should be in safe and planned manner," Bhushan said.

As per the 2011 CAPA report, general aviation sector has tremendous opportunity and expected to touch USD 12 billion in the next decade and the aircraft fleet would increase to 2,000.

"There are certain problems faced by the sector, which include acute shortage of trained manpower apart from others, but I can assure you that no compromises would be made on this front," he added.

He said that helicopter service in the country is also growing fast and pointed to the demand for choppers in the oil and gas industry because of their multi-purpose capabilities.