Indian aviation industry was able to breathe a little easier in 2021

The Indian aviation industry was able to breathe a little easier in 2021 as domestic flight operations reached their pre-pandemic levels, even as international services remained curtailed due to Covid-related travel restrictions.

Sale of Air India to Tata Group and the arrival of a new airline backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala akasa air 2021 is likely to introduce more competition and change the dynamics of the Indian aviation sector in the years to come.

While the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) lifted all capacity restrictions on scheduled domestic flights on October 18, the lower and upper limits of domestic airfares remain the same.

Both – capacity restrictions and fare limits – were imposed by the MoCA with effect from May 25, 2020, when scheduled domestic flights resumed after a two-month-long suspension COVID-19,

Although the MoCA announced on 26 November that scheduled international flights would resume from 15 December, the decision was suspended on 1 December. omicron type of coronavirus,

Scheduled international flights in India are suspended since March 23, 2020. Presently, special passenger flights are being operated between India and around 32 countries based on the air bubble arrangement signed with them.

United States-based aircraft maker Boeing made all necessary software improvements to the 737 MAX aircraft to the satisfaction of the Directorate General of Aviation Regulators General of India (DGCA), the aircraft’s ban on commercial flight operations was lifted after 27 months.

All MAX aircraft were stopped in India by the DGCA on March 13, 2019, three days after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX plane crashed near Addis Ababa, killing 157 people, including four Indians.

Akasa Air – The new airline backed by veteran investor Mr. Jhunjhunwala and aviation giants Aditya Ghosh and Vinay Dubey received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from MoCA to start commercial flight operations in the first half of August.

After DGCA gave its green signal to MAX aircraft in late August, Akasa Air signed an agreement with Boeing on 26 November to purchase 72 MAX aircraft.

Aviation consultancy firm CAPA said last month that the disruption in the Indian aviation sector due to Akasa Air will likely be felt from 2024-25 onwards “once it scales and achieves a competitive cost base”.

SpiceJet reported a net loss of ₹935 crore and ₹998 crore in 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively. The airline has posted a net loss of ₹1,290 crore in the first six months of the current financial year.

A section of SpiceJet employees went on strike outside the Delhi airport on September 3 and November 2 to protest low wages and its irregular payment.

SpiceJet chairperson and managing director Ajay Singh had told PTI In October, the employees were being paid their full salaries on time and all the issues related to their salaries have been resolved.

SpiceJet is the only airline in India to have MAX aircraft – 13 of them – in its fleet at present. In November, the budget carrier said it had struck an agreement with Boeing to settle outstanding claims related to the grounding and return of 737 MAX planes.

CAPA said the risk for SpiceJet will remain “high without serious recapitalization” and “long-term stability” can be achieved with recapitalisation.

After years of much effort, the Narendra Modi government finally succeeded in selling the debt-ridden Air India to a private entity in 2021.

On 8 October, the Center announced that Tata Sons’ wholly owned subsidiary Tales Pvt Ltd had defeated a consortium led by Ajay Singh by offering ₹18,000 crore to win the bid to acquire Air India.

Air India is expected to eventually be handed over to the Tata group in the first quarter of 2022.

The Tata Group already owns and operates two airlines – Vistara and Air Asia – in India. It is not clear whether Vistara will merge with Air India.

Similarly, it is unclear whether Air India Express – a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India that operates only narrow-body aircraft – will be merged with budget carrier AirAsia India.

On 8 July, Jyotiraditya Scindia took over as the Minister of Civil Aviation, replacing Hardeep Singh Puri.

Under Scindia’s charge, the MoCA has given a major push to the drone industry.

MoCA on 15 September approved a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of ₹120 crore spread over three financial years.

The PLI scheme came out in pursuance of the Liberal Drone Rules, 2021 issued by MoCA on August 25.

Mr Scindia had said on September 16 that the total business of the Indian drone industry would reach Rs 15,000 crore by 2026 as the government gave a big boost to the sector with the PLI scheme and liberalized regulations.

Two years after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the Jalan Colorrock consortium’s resolution plan for Jet Airways, the once-story full-service carrier went into bankruptcy proceedings.

Earlier this month, the winning association of Jet Airways said it wants to infuse funds into the airline and has approached the NCLT to expedite the implementation of the resolution plan approved by the bankruptcy court in June this year.

The consortium also said in a statement that it plans to resume domestic operations as a full-service carrier in 2022 as soon as possible.