Sweet sounds of success for Chimes Aviation industry

The recent crisis in the aviation industry may have been a dampener for the growth plans of aviation training academies, but Uday Punj managing director, Chimes Aviation Academy (CAA) is in no mood to slow down, having flown quite some distance.

���Our first exposure to aviation was way back in 1993 when Punj Lloyd bagged the Hazipur pipeline project. That���s when we bought a helicopter for our managers and engineers for efficient and speedy work,��� says Punj.

After a decade-and-a-half, Punj decided to study the Indian aviation sector extensively and after dropping the idea to start an airline business, he zeroed in on running a pilot training academy. ���We found that all the academies in India are mom-and-pop operations.

Moreover, there was hardly any institute with good infrastructure back-up, so we decided to build a corporate academy with international placements in tow,��� he adds.

With an initial capital investment of Rs 30 crore, the firm bought its first fleet of eight single and multi-engine Cessna 172 R aircrafts, an 11,000 sq ft airfield at Dhana in Madhya Pradesh.

���We visited many academies in and outside of the country, and then built a model based on the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), a government-based pilot training,��� says Punj. ���But finding the right chief flying instructor (CFI), and locating a place, which has conducive weather to fly aircrafts all round the year, were the main challenges we faced.���

In March last year, CAA came into operation. It offers DGCA approved integrated courses like ���Commercial Pilots License��� (CPL) and ���Private Pilots License��� (PPL). It also offers customised short-term programmes like Multi Engine Rating , Instrument Rating , License Endorsement and Hours Building for CPL and PPL under the ���Chimes Flying Programme.

A 12 months course, it enrolls 120 students a year with an annual fee of Rs 22 lakh. CAA has tied-up with PSU and private banks for student loan facilities. Around 60% of the faculty in CAA comes with an air force background. ���Our flying instructors come with several years of civil, defence and training experience from across the globe,��� says Punj.

So what makes CAA create a niche above other pilot training academies in India. ���CAA is like a premium advanced IT enabled B-school with Wi-Fi, laptops and all things that no institute training pilots in India, provides,��� says Punj.

The Chimes Group, set up in 2006, is a multi-venture organisation with footprints in UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman and Qatar. Current businesses of the group include petro, IT, a specialised ITES offering focused on the energy industry, ready to move premium office spaces and business centre and the Chimes Aviation Academy.

���We plan to enhance our fleet size to 18 in a phased manner by this year. We are targeting a turnover of Rs 35 crore this fiscal. By 2010-11, our revenues should touch Rs 135 crore,��� says Punj. After exiting from the executive management of Punj Lloyd Ltd., Uday Punj says he���s focusing on his independent businesses. He is also the master-franchisee of the TGIF chain of restaurants that is present in India through a 50:50 JV with a local partner.

���Presently our main challenge is getting the reduction in sales tax on fuel,��� says Punj. He���s also pushing for expansion of the academy overseas.

���If an IIM(A) student can find placements in MNCs abroad then why can���t pilots from an Indian institute find placements in international airlines,��� he says. By the second quarter of 2009, Punj plans to run tourism based aviation services. ���There is a huge demand in the tourism sector in our country and we are looking for an opportunity here.���