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IACC
Meet on Indo-US Aviation Cooperation:
Opportunities Galore
The Indo-American Chamber of
Commerce - NIC organized a conference
on Indo-U.S. Aviation Cooperation
- Growth of Civil Aviation in
India: Challenges & Opportunities
on 9 April 2008 in New Delhi.
K.N. Shrivastava, Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Government of India, was the
Guest of Honour. Ambassador
Douglas Hartwick, National Executive,
Lockheed Martin (I) (P) Ltd
and Dale Tasharski, Dy Commercial
Counselor, U.S. Embassy were
the distinguished speakers during
the inaugural session.
Dr. Prasad Medury, Regional
President, NIC, IACC, welcomed
the dignitaries and the guests.
Dr. Vivek Lall, Regional Vice
President, IACC, Vice President
& Country Head, Boeing Integrated
Defense Systems, gave the Theme
Address and the vote of thanks
was given by S. Madhavan, Regional
Vice President, IACC, Executive
Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The Conference was addressed
by 27 speakers from the Ministry
of Civil Aviation, US Embassy
and American and Indian firms
from the filed of civil aviation.
The conference deliberated on
four key areas of the civil
Aviation sector, namely, 'Future
of Indian Civil Aviation, Air
Traffic Management, Airports,
and the Indian Aerospace Industry:
Challenges & Opportunities
for Indian Industry.
The session on Future of Indian
Civil Aviation was addressed
by Donnell Langford, Managing
Director, Customer Services
Europe and India, American Airlines,
Pramod Gupta, Executive Director
Sales & Marketing, Air India
Limited, Max Wiley, Vice PresidentAsia
Pacific, Bell Helicopter Textron
Inc., and Dhiraj Mathur, Executive
Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The deliberations revolved around
growth and business opportunities
in Airlines, Cargo, and Heliports.
The Civil Aviation Ministry
forecasts growth of up to 80
million passengers by 2020.
In order to meet this growth
in passenger traffic over 220
new planes have manifested in
the last three years, and another
500-550 aircrafts are likely
to join by the year 2010. The
growth and upgradation of cargo
facilities is also an integral
part of the Indian aviation
boom. India is becoming a major
point of growth for the top
cargo operators as the country
is undergoing a gradual shift
from traditional forwarding
to supply chain management.
The Asia Pacific region is a
booming trade market and is
expected to have the highest
growth rate from 24 per cent
to 26 percent by 2011, with
India and China as the major
components of the growth. Similarly
the potential for heliports
is huge considering India's
vast geographical composition.
There are only a handful of
approved heliports in India
and there is a need for more
as there is a growing need to
be able to bypass congested
traffic areas, undeveloped rural
areas, and also to serve as
an alternative emergency evacuation
vehicle in times of national
crisis.
The session on Air Traffic Management
(ATM) was chaired by V. Somasundaram,
Executive Director, Air Traffic
Management, and Airports Authority
of India. The other prominent
speakers were Daniel Magoon,
Director Business Development
India, Lockheed Martin Transportation
& Security Solutions, M.
Irulappan, General Manager,
Global Navigation Satellite
System, Ms. Miyoun Dobbs, Program
Director, Asia-Pacific Region,
CAASD, and The MITRE Corporation.
Air Traffic Management is a
major segment within the Indian
Aviation industry requiring
upgradation and optimization.
The efficient management and
use of Indian airspace is pertinent
considering the growth of capacity
that will result. In addition
to the management of airspace,
another obstacle is the technological
capacity to deal with the increase
of air traffic. With every additional
aircraft added to the skies
there is a possibility of additional
delays, and the cost burden
of burning thousands of kg of
fuel for each delay is enormous
both for airlines and the environment.
Switching over to satellite-based
navigation system or RNP/RNAV
(Required Navigation Performance/Area
Navigation) procedures is the
need of the hour that will ensure
uninterrupted operations throughout
the year and save both passengers
and airlines from unnecessary
burdens.
The Session on Airports, chaired
by R K Sharma, Director &
National Deputy, Lockheed Martin
Global Inc, focused on discussion
on Greenfield and Brownfield
airports. Prominent speakers
during the session were Dr.
Arjun Singh, Joint General Manager,
Airports Authority of India,
Pradeep Panicker, Associate
Vice President - Strategic Planning,
Delhi International Airport
Limited, Richard Chinn, Aviation
Expert, Mott MacDonald, and
A. Viswanath, Vice President
- Corporate Planning & Risk
Management, GMR Hyderabad International
Airport Limited. The infrastructure
requirements of airports are
directly proportionate to the
increase of carriers and passenger
growth. By 2020 Indian airports
are estimated to handle 100
million passengers including
60 million domestic passengers.
The Government's airport modernization
plan proposes investments of
US $9 billion by 2010. Airport
development is focused around
enhancing capacity and improving
services. In addition, the development
of Greenfield and/or Brownfield
airports is essential considering
the limitations of trying to
expand and upgrade existing
airports and infrastructure.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation
has proposed the development
of over 30 non-metro airports
by 2014.
The last session was Indian
Aerospace Industry. The session
was chaired by Kapil Arora,
Partner, Ernst & Young.
Other speakers included John
L. Williams, Director - Industrial
Participation, Boeing International
Corporation (I) (P) Ltd., Nalin
Jain, Director - Commercial
Sales, GE Aviation, P J B Noble,
Director, Park Controls &
Communications Ltd., and Vishal
Chadha, Business Manager - Aerospace
and Defence, Infosys Technologies
Limited. The speakers highlighted
the enormous opportunities for
the Indian industry, be it in
manufacturing or IT, to take
advantage of the growth in the
sector.
India is fast emerging as a
hub for engineering and design
services including control system
design, embedded development,
high level aeronautical system
design, simulation, testing
devices, cockpit equipment support
software, air traffic management
systems, and composite structuring.
Huge opportunities also exist
considering the Government of
India's offset requirement for
aircraft manufacturers to source
30 percent of the value of the
aircraft from Indian vendors.
The key is for Indian manufacturers
to have a understanding of American
quality standards and make a
technological leap forward in
order to meet these requirements
and win contracts. India is
also becoming an epicenter of
aviation MRO growth due to the
significant and sudden rise
in the total fleet size in the
country. The demand for MRO
services is increasing rapidly
and the market size is expected
to grow to US $ 1.06 billion
by 2014. The engine overhaul
constitutes the largest segment
in Indian MRO market and is
expected to grow to US $ 490
million by 2014.
The conference was attended
by more than 150 high profile
participants which included
Member of Parliament, representing
the consultative committee of
the Ministry of Civil Aviation,
representatives from Government
of India, senior representatives
from Lockheed Martin, Boeing,
American Airlines, Bell Helicopters,
U.S. Commercial Services, and
members of the press ranging
from CNN to the Wall Street
Journal's Mint magazine
The audiences were engaged in
the lively question and answer
sessions, and made several recommendations
for the Indo-American Chamber
of Commerce to take up with
the Government of India.
The IACC is currently working
on this letter of recommendations
for the GOI in order to initiate
a dialogue between senior executives
of Indo-U.S. Aviation companies,
members of IACC Regional Council,
and Indian Government Officials.
Given the overwhelming positive
response to the very first Indo-U.S.
Aviation Cooperation Conference,
the IACC plans on taking up
this major initiative in the
years to come. |
