Government gets financial bids in the fourth attempt for Pawan Hans stake

The government has received an undisclosed number of financial bids for the sale of its stake in ailing helicopter operator Pawan Hans, moving the divestment process to the last stage.

"The financial bids for Pawan Hans disinvestment have been received by the transaction advisor. The process now moves to a concluding stage," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. He, however, did not disclose the number of bidders.

The government is selling its entire 51% stake in Pawan Hans. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) which holds the remaining 49%, has also offered its entire shareholding in the company for sale along with the government stake.

Set up in 1985, Pawan Hans has a fleet of over 40 helicopters and over 900 employees, less than half of them on permanent roles. It provides helicopter services for the exploration activities of ONGC and to India's northeast.

For 2019-20, the company reported a net loss of INR 28 crore, lower than INR 69 crore in 2018-19. As of March 31, 2020, its authorised capital stood at INR 560 crore and paid-up share capital at INR 557 crore.

In 2018, the government had invited bids to sell its stake in Pawan Hans. However, the process was withdrawn after ONGC decided to sell its 49% stake in the company along with the government's. In 2019, a second attempt was made to sell the company but it failed to receive investor response.

In 2020, the government sweetened the terms, reducing the minimum net worth for potential bidders and the lock-in period of investment and allowing the successful bidder to sell assets after a year.

Previously, the sale terms allowed the successful bidder assets two years after acquisition. Also, a change in shareholding among consortium partners was permitted, provided the lead investor holds a minimum of 26% stake and other members hold at least 10 per cent each.

The lock-in period for investment was also reduced to one year from three years earlier. However, a new clause of business continuity was added to ensure that the successful bidder will not liquidate or close down the business for three years.

The minimum net worth of bidders has also been reduced to INR 300 crore from INR 350 crore earlier and the profitability criteria have been abolished to increase the universe of the bidders.

In February this year, the government received multiple preliminary bids for its privatisation process. The bidders thereafter did the due diligence of the company and have now submitted financial or price bids.

UAE’s Sky One FZE is among the bidders in the race to buy the government’s stake in helicopter services company Pawan Hans, according to people aware of the matter. Pawan Hans was put up for sale in December 2020.

The Sharjah-based company has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for the helicopter services firm and is planning a bid, the people said. There could be other bidders competing to acquire the company. Industry experts expect the employees’ union of Pawan Hans, along with Global Vectra Helicorp and Heligo Charters to bid for the company.

The disinvestment is part of the INR 1.75 lakh crore revenue mobilisation target set by the government for the 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022) fiscal year. So far, the government has garnered INR 9,330 crore from minority stake sales.

In October, the government sold Air India to Tata Group at an enterprise value of INR 18,000 crore, the first major privatisation step in about two decades. The government will get INR 2,700 crore cash from Tatas for the sale of its 100% stake.

The country's largest airline IndiGo is working with other industry players and the civil aviation ministry to address the "long-standing problem" of the high indirect tax rate, which currently stands at 21%, according to its chief Ronojoy Dutta.

In his Christmas and New Year greetings to the employees, the IndiGo CEO also flagged that profitability is under considerable pressure owing to the low airfares regime at a time when the carrier is focusing on "repairing" its balance sheet.

Ronojoy Dutta, CEO, IndiGo

His views also come at a time when the civil aviation sector is slowly on the recovery path after being battered by the coronavirus pandemic. While various restrictions, including on travel, were being eased till late last month, the emergence of the Omicron variant has triggered fresh health concerns and various countries have started to re-impose curbs to contain the infections.

The domestic aviation industry has been pitching for lower direct and indirect taxes at various levels."We pay over 21% of our revenues as indirect taxes to the government. We think it is unconscionable that a critical infrastructure industry such as aviation, with its large multiplier effects in employment, should be taxed at such a high rate.

"We are working with other players in the industry and the civil aviation ministry to address this long-standing problem," Dutta said in the message.

The IndiGo chief also pointed out that even as the domestic aviation market is growing rapidly, post the second wave, which almost grounded air travel demand, airline ticket prices in India are among the "lowest" in the world.

"As income levels in the country rise, we can expect some relief in the form of higher ticket prices, but in the meantime, there is considerable pressure on profitability," he said.

During the pandemic, the airline incurred large losses and has been forced to take on a large amount of debt to fund its cash burn, Dutta said and emphasised that "repairing our balance sheet is an urgent task".

Outlining the "game plan" for the future, Dutta said maintaining the cost leadership position is, of course, of "critical importance" amid heightened domestic competition along with international expansion, as "we see immense scope for profitable growth in geographies all around us".

"We see opportunities for improving our revenues by further segmenting our customer base and offering additional services tailored to each segment. Developing our cargo business is one of our major initiatives," he said.

Significantly, 2022 is expected to see two more players -- ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's ultra-long cost carrier Akasa and grounded Jet Airways under new owners (Jalan-Kalrock consortium) -- taking to the skies.

Dutta said the airline's growth prospects are well reflected in its fleet plan, with growth muted for the next 24 months but then expected to accelerate to 25% per annum. "... given the environmental challenges of our planet, we will be making investments in sustainable growth".

Flying cars, also dubbed electric air taxis, have been around for a long time, thanks to all the sci-fi movies and commercials. With major aerospace behemoths like Airbus and Boeing and the equally competitive entities from the automotive industries like Toyota and Hyundai getting on the bandwagon of autonomous travel, experts are upbeat that short-distance air mobility might become a thing of reality, and soon.

Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation, based in California are two eVTOL start-ups that went public this year. Additionally, Amazon and UPS-backed Beta Technologies have developed Alia, an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, or “eVTOL,” helicopter-like aircraft that can take off and land without runways.

The online shopping giant, in collaboration with several others, has invested in Beta Technologies-an electric aircraft maker whose Alia eVTOL aircraft could be key to meeting Amazon's target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

PCMag

According to Amazon, Alia can carry 1,500 pounds of cargo, that's about three cargo pallets or six people with a range of 250 nautical miles. The cabin is designed to accommodate 600 pounds of payload, with one of the five battery packs removed. Kyle further The company has stated that its primary focus would be on short-hop deliveries that would otherwise require a small conventional aircraft or truck.

However, though, Amazon's investment won't pan out until at least 2024, when Beta expects to deliver its first aircraft.

We’re actually going to win at the passenger game because by the time others are doing passenger missions we will have thousands of aircraft, millions of flight hours and a safe, reliable, vetted designBeta company founder and CEO Kyle Clark has told Forbes

Kyle further states that frequent flying will allow up to 90% savings on fuel and cheaper maintenance due to the fewer parts of electric propulsion systems. And if that wasn't enough, Beta is also developing charging stations for electric aircraft of all types.

With currently 9 such stations in place,  Clark’s plan is for them to fill slowly at off-peak times, with excess power sold back at peak to utilities.

The aircraft is the sexy part but we’re going to make big money off batteriesClark gushes

Beta has also managed to bag an impressive 150 orders for Alia from UPS, priced at $4-$5 million apiece. Furthermore, it has also won contracts worth $43.6 million to test out Alia for military use after becoming the first electric aircraft to win airworthiness approval from the Air Force for manned flight in May. 

From drones to all-electric planes, Amazon has been at the forefront of revolutionizing delivery | Amazon

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Clean Technica

Boeing and Airbus are ranked as the two leading aircraft manufacturers worldwide. Both companies have produced models that have been highly successful in the market.

Business Traveller

The Boeing B777-X and the A350F are some of the company's most recent models, both of which were unveiled at the very recent Dubai Airshow, which concluded last month.

As of September 2021, Airbus leads its rival Boeing over deliveries with the former having sold 269 planes in the first eight months of the year while the former has been gradually clearing a backlog of undelivered jets following the almost two-year safety grounding of B737MAX.

After a spat of issues throughout the year, ranging from structural flaws in the B787 Dreamliner to the 737 MAX crisis, Boeing now wants to regain its engineering prowess in the market, starting in 2022.

How does it plan on achieving that?

Think of twinning robots that speak to each other, mechanics from around the world coming together connected by a $3,500 HoloLens headsets made by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O)- this is Boeing's latest idea of a factory coming of age.

Microsoft HoloLens | Inexhibit

It's about strengthening engineering. We are talking about changing the way we work across the entire companyBoeing's chief engineer, Greg Hyslop, told Reuters in his first interview in nearly two years.

The ambitious new strategy by Boeing comes as a response after years of cut-throat competition and the need to fast-track bulging orders.

Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive, appears to share the same views. The power of data needs to be leveraged to optimize and invent new industrial systems is what he said,

This begs the question- How can metaverse be integrated into aviation?

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Metaverse is technically an online virtual world that incorporates augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, video and other means of communication. As the metaverse expands, it will offer a hyper-real alternative world for anyone to coexist in.

Boeing's blueprint to integrate this groundbreaking technology is as follows- it plans on creating "twin replicas" of jets. These 3D replicas would be held together by "digital threads" which will contain every information about the aircraft-from airline requirements, to millions of parts, to thousands of pages of certification documents - extending deep into the supply chain.

More than 70% of quality issues at Boeing can be traced back to some kind of design flaw. The company believes bringing virtual reality or augmented reality, coupled with speed, improved quality and better communication, the reaction time in response to these issues can be improved drastically.

When the quality from the supply base is better, when the airplane build goes together more smoothly, when you minimize re-work, the financial performance will follow from thatGreg Hyslop

What does the popular opinion say?

According to critics, this sounds good on paper but can be questionable when it comes to actual implementation. Apparently, this won't be the first time digital technology has been used in developing aircraft. Take, for instance, the T-7A RedHawk military training jet, and the B777X mini jumbo to some extent was developed but with its share of defects.

T-7A RedHawk military training jet | The Aviation Geek Club

Is it worth pursuing? By all means. Will it solve all their problems? NoTeal Group analyst, Richard Aboulafia

The Boeing company understands the road to digital digitalization is a long one and hence would come with organizational and cultural changes across the company-industry sources say.

Did you know? Boeing has a running start with its 777X wing factory in Washington state, where the layout and robot optimization was first done digitally. But the broader program is years behind schedule and mired in certification challenges.

SOURCE: Reuters

COVER: TechCentral

Think of splurging in a first-class seat, sipping on bloody Mary or popping  Champagne or perhaps getting a free business class seat while on company travel? Offering a travel experience like no other, even in economy class, the Airbus A380 is the worlds biggest passenger plane to have been built so far.

The Emirates A380 horseshoe bar lounge | The Champagne Mile

Emirates airlines have been its biggest customer so far with the aircraft featuring Private flat-bed suites, an up-in-the-air lounge and cocktail bar, a personal mini-bar at each seat and not to mention the comfy shower spas onboard its fleet of double-decker plane.

We’ve developed the most passenger preferred aircraft in the worldAirbus head of business analysis and market forecast Bob Lange says

Why then, did Airbus decide to pull the plug on one of the most iconic engineering marvels to adorn the skies?

Long story short and ironical as it may sound, is the low number of planes sold. 

In the end, you have to face facts, and we could see that we were building A380s faster than people were ordering themLange says

Secondly, with continuous operations, the plane ages and so does the cabin.

A380 Premium Economy | AERONEF.NET

The more seats there are, the higher are the costs of cabin upgrading. Investing over $45 million (£37m),in-seat upgrades, made little sense over-investing in newer aircraft instead. Air France has decided to phase out all of its 10 A380s by 2022 for the very same reason.

Thirdly, the external design and economics played a huge factor in the phasing out of this iconic aircraft. The A380 sports 4 massive engines requiring more investment into them as opposed to the much cheaper and new generation of super-efficient, twin-engine planes, such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and Airbus’s A350.

Boeing B787 Dreamliner | Quora

Given that fuel is the biggest operating cost for an airline, anything airlines can do to lock in lower fuel and maintenance costs is likely to be highly attractive. In many cases, airlines have opted to base their fleet renewal plans around these twin-engine variants, in some cases even bring forward the planned retirement dates of quad-engined aircraft as a consequenceAndrew Smith, director of Deloitte’s global transport practice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDoj6VI_8fg

Last Airbus A380 Delivery | This would be the 123rd jumbo jet for Emirates | Youtube

Although shelved, the technology used for the A380 program hasn't gone out of the window. With almost more than 380 parents on the A380, most has been used on smaller planes in Airbus.

Airbus has delivered the last A380 to Emirates on Thursday, thereby marking the end of a 14 year run of the majestic jumbo jet.

With the A380 gone, the massive 122,500 sq m assembly plant in Toulouse now remains deserted.

Airbus to soon convert its A380 Toulouse facility to A321 final assembly line

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Emirates

In a major boost to indigenisation, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Thursday, December 16 signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited for the development and supply of 20 types of systems for the LCA Tejas Mk1A programme.

The five-year contract spanning from 2023 to 2028 is valued at INR 2,400 crore and involves supplying critical avionics Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), flight control computers and night flying LRUs, Bengaluru-headquartered HAL said in a statement.

"This is the biggest ever order that HAL has placed on any Indian company boosting 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' campaign," it said.

"LCA Tejas programme is an excellent example of synergies between Indian Defence establishments such as HAL, DRDO & BEL. The current order for development and supply of 20 types of critical avionics LRUs for Tejas Mk1A is a shot-in-the-arm for Make in India activity."R Madhavan, CMD, HAL

The order for the supply of these systems for the 83 Tejas Mk1A fighter fleet will be executed by two Divisions of BELat Bengaluru and Panchkula (Haryana). All the contracted items will be delivered by BEL to HAL in a ready-to-board condition, the statement said.

Deliveries under 83 Tejas Mk1A order to IAF will commence from 2023-24.

"We are pleased to receive this order from HAL for the prestigious LCA Tejas programme and look forward to continuing strong partnership and joint success with HAL."Anandi Ramalingam, CMD, BEL

The home-grown fighter is slated to be equipped with indigenous flight control computers, air data computers which would also be supplied by BEL under this contract. These systems have been designed and developed by various labs of DRDO and Aeronautical Development Agency, Bengaluru.

The contract documents were handed over by General Manager LCA Tejas Division, HAL, E P Jayadeva to General Manager (EW&A) BEL, Manoj Jain.