Indian Govt Plans Mandatory Regional Cheap Flights

If the government will have its way, it is almost certain that the current scheduled airlines operating from India might have to increase the connectivity of the regional hubs with the adjoining smaller cities. The government is likely to make it mandatory for the airlines to provide services from these areas, connecting with the regional hubs. This rationale behind the plan lies in the increasing demand of flight booking by the people from these areas to reach the hubs by using the air mode of transportation rather than the road or rail based one. But, since these areas are considered to be less lucrative by the airline companies, the government plans to make this mandatory, just as flying to the north-eastern region is made mandatory.

Currently, the people come to the hubs of the airlines using the road and rail routes and the journey becomes quite long and exhaustive. By opening the flight booking from these areas and operating the cheap flights, commuting will become less tiring and time consuming and will even suit the budget of many people. This is in consonance with the policy of balanced regional development of all parts of the country.

The move is likely to make the airline companies change their plans a bit to accommodate the mandate of flying to and from the nearby regions of the hub. The budget carriers such as IndiGo airlines, which mostly operate on the Airbus aircraft and for whom the fuel efficiency and overall operational efficiency matters a lot, might have to maintain the turboprop airplanes in their fleet for meeting this requirement. The turboprops are efficient due to the lower velocity of propeller and exhaust. These would fit well in the overall business model of the IndiGo airlines and other LCCs as it would become possible to provide the cheap flights to the people.

With all airlines, barring Go Indigo, reporting losses in current financial, the plan will further add financial burden as it will require capital infusion to buy the turboprop aircraft. There might also be shift in the operating strategies of the airlines to accommodate the government requirements. 

MRO Operations In Indian Aviation Market

MRO refers to the maintenance and repair operations of the aircraft. As everyone would acknowledge that it is not the cheap air tickets of the airlines but the safety and security of the passengers which is of paramount importance both to the passengers as well as the airlines, this makes role of MRO vitally important. It is due to the efforts of the dedicated MRO that the aircraft retain their airworthiness and are able to promise total security and safety to the customers. The Indian aviation market, which has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years banking on the strong foray of the LCCs such as Indigo, approved the setting up of dedicated MRO at Hosur for commercial  aircraft in 2008.

Pre-requisites of MRO

You certainly do not set up an MRO for a few aircraft since it will become prohibitively expensive and unviable. So, for setting up a dedicated and world class MRO, it is important to have some critical mass of the aircraft or a minimum fleet of aircraft. This will ensure that there is sufficient work on regular basis for the MRO people so that there is no time loss and the costs of maintenance and repair work are kept at optimal levels. India has developed its current fleet in a short span of time in the last few years only and this has now reached that stage where the MRO services can be used most efficiently.

Further, it is also required that the aircraft shall also need the maintenance and repair works. And, this happens when the aircraft are sufficient old. Since India has a relatively young and new fleet of aircraft, there is not much of maintenance work required. However, as the time progresses and the fleet becomes old, it become important to get the regular MRO done.

The third important requirement for the MRO is that of reasonably priced infrastructure which includes the hangar space for the aircraft. This also requires continuous training of the aircraft maintenance professionals and giving them the technical knowhow of the aircraft maintenance. The element of price is foremost consideration since an overly dear price will ultimately be charged to the airfares of the airlines and the cheap international flights from India might get costlier for the customers. LCCs such as Go Indigo might also require to increase their airfares due to additional MRO requirements of an ageing fleet in future.

Indigo- A Success Story of Flying on Efficiency

In an aviation market, where the airlines are generally left struggling, often running into losses and getting bundled-out of market due to intense competition, it does make news when some airline makes profit. Indigo is a case study altogether different from the other players in the Indian aviation sector, a sector which is infamous for its aviation-unfriendly reasons. What makes Indigo different from the other? Why is it that indigo airlines is able to book profits when none other player is able to do it?

Indigo is a low-fare Indian carrier which has recently got the permission to fly on international routes. The airline has singularly focused on providing cheap air tickets to the customers on the short-haul domestic and international routes. With this objective clearly in sight, the airline has taken all measures to operate efficiently. Efficiency has been the watchword for the airline ever since its inception and it has remained steadfastly committed to it from the beginning.

Being punctual has been one of its strongest USPs as it has helped in promoting efficiency on one hand and in generating goodwill among the passengers. With impressive track record on making sure that the arrivals and departures are not delayed and there are fewer cancellations as compared with the other carriers, it has become the most reliable airline for the passengers. Being punctual also helps in garnering more corporate deals since the companies prefer their employees to travel on those cheap international flights which do not make them miss their crucial appointments.

The whole systems and procedures of the airlines are geared in such a way as to ensure that the planes do not miss their schedules. The passengers reach, embark on and disembark from the plane smoothly. There is minimal turnaround period for the flights. Even the pilots seem to be well instructed to ensure minimal wastage of fuel. Maximum utilization of the seating space is balanced well with the level of comfort desired by the customers to provide optimal efficiency levels as well as customer satisfaction.

All in all, the go indigo success story is pivoted around being punctual which means efficient operations.