What does it take to charter a jet in India?

The global pandemic dealt a severe blow to commercial air travel with passenger loads plummeting to depressing levels. With restrictions eased, figures are improving although it will be a long time before the numbers are back to pre-covid levels.

Amid this, the wealthy rich of the country have been considering private jet travel as a viable alternative. That begs the question, what does it cost to fly a private jet? Is it any different from "chartering" a flight? Let's find out.

In layman terms, aircrafts with 4-18 seating capacity are termed as private jets and they maybe either chartered or owned privately.

A charter flight is any aircraft, with any seat configuration, from a 4 seater to a 180 seater airliner, specifically rented for an itinerary . So basically, a private jet is a  subset of a charter flight, so to speak.

According to Ameerh Naran of Vimana Private Jets, charter flights fall within several categories, Group charters and individual client flights being some of them. While chartering a flight, you rent the entire aircraft and the the whole flying experience is decided by whomever is chartering the flight.

Ameerh Naran

Flights are chartered for a number of reasons, some of them being trip visits, company group tours, sports events etc. Private or commercial aircrafts maybe chartered while the time and location are decided by the organising team.

A private jet charter, on the other hand, is controlled by the individual entity chartering the flight or in some cases, the company wanting to fly. Depending on their individual requirements, clients here have full control over their schedule that includes their choice of  private aircraft and the departure and arrival points as well.

What aircraft options do we have to fly private/charter within the country?

With so many aviation companies around, clients have so many options to choose from-from single engine turbo-props to light jets, mid-size jets, heavy jets and airliners. Some of the models include include Pilatus PC12, Cessna Citation Cj2+, Cessna Citation XL, Beechcraft Hawker 850XP, Beechcraft Hawker 900XP, Gulfstream 150, Dassault Falcon 2000 & Bombardier Global 6000,all with a seating capacity ranging from 6 seats to 180.

Bombardier Global 6000

With so many options galore, it's only natural to think one can fly from point A to point B without any hassle! But, is it really that simple? There's a catch.

Charter flights come under the category of unscheduled operations, meaning they don't generate revenue for the economy. Acquiring flying clearances depends a lot on who's on board. Now for Indian passport holders, it's a piece of cake but foreign nationals will have to acquire special clearances especially when they are flying into designated defense airports, for instance, like Goa.

How exactly do charter flights stack up against their commercial counterparts in terms of fare?

Well, it's a no-brainer. Charter flights are considerably more expensive than commercial flights and for obvious reasons. If you have tons to shell, you could own a pre-owned private jet for about $3million (3,64,97,32,500.00 Indian Rupees) and upto $50 million (3,64,97,32,500.00 Indian Rupees) and more for a heavy jet like a Global 6000 or Gulfstream 650ER. Fares for chartering are based on hourly-rates with Rs1.5 lakh per hour in an aircraft like Cessna Citation II to as high as Rs3.5 lakh for a Dassault Falcon 2000(approximately). Round the way trip for a DEL-BOM leg business class would cost as about 1Lakh whereas chartering the same would go upwards upto 10Lakhs.

Chartering turboprops, on the other hand, seems to be much cheaper with the hourly rates ranging between Rs85,000 and Rs1.25Lakhs.

That said, there are times when it makes more sense to fly a charter than a commercial one. Private flying fares can be very competitive, especially when you're flying as a group, when fares would be comparable to flying First Class in a commercial airline. Not to mention the extra convenience, less time and of the loads of luxury that come along with it.

Apart from a customised personal flying experience, what kind of food/drinks are served on board?

Flying private comes with its shares of cons. You're flying at about 50,000ft but that's just about as "high" you'll probably get (pun intended) . Here's the bummer-Alcohol is a big NO , even if you're flying private as per DGCA guidelines.

There has been continued requests from private operators to allow liquor on board. The regulator has taken note and a final call shall be made soon.

That said, on smaller aircrafts such as turbo-props and light jets, you're likely to be served mostly dry snacks like sandwiches, wraps, assorted nuts and cookies, while midsize and heavy jets can offer up multi-course feasts tailored to the preferences of every passenger.

Are there designated terminals for charter flights?

In Mumbai, charter flights operate from the Corporate Aviation Terminal, Kalina, which is a terminal specifically reserved for private jet movements.

Corporate Aviation Terminal, Kalina

Charter operations in Bengaluru are mostly operated from the HAL airport.That said, some cities have only one airport which facilitate VVIP movement.

Aanavandi

Also to be noted, all normal quarantine procedures are equally applicable on all charter/private flights as is mandated by the DGCA.

COVER: The New York Times

NASA, in partnership with Joby's Aviation, has begun flight testing with its all electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles as a part of the agency's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) national campaign. The flight testing is being conducted at Joby's Electric Flight Base located close to Big Sur in California.

NASA

This would be NASA's maiden attempt at testing eVTOL aircrafts as a part of the campaign.

As a part of the testing, NASA would collect vehicle performance and accoustic data for future simulation and modelling of concepts.

These testing scenarios will help inform gaps in current standards to benefit the industry’s progress of integrating AAM vehicles into the airspacesaid Davis Hackenberg, NASA AAM mission integration manager.

Joby's eVTOL aircraft is touted to be used as commercial passenger service in the future. The first set of campaign tests, known as NC-1, is slated for 2022 with more complex flight scenarios and other industry vehicles.

"NASA’s AAM National Campaign is critical to driving scientific understanding and public acceptance of eVTOL aircraft.We’re incredibly proud to have worked closely with NASA on electric flight over the past 10 years and to be the first eVTOL company to fly as part of the campaign"- JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation

Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt FL360aero

To give a brief introduction, AAM is an Aviation system, managed by NASA , that seeks to develop and implement aviation in innovative, non-conventional ways, unlike that we see of today. It particularly aims at providing efficient and affordable system for passenger and cargo transportation and other applications in the public interest.

Drones and it's several applications are a part of it's developmental strategy.Joby Aviation’s all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft which could serve as air taxis in the future.

With the new drone rules in India, drone enthusiasts in the country now have a better reason to be happy about. Let's find out

Drone rules 2021

The Economic Times

The new drone rules 2021 are basically a liberalised version of the ones imposed in March, earlier this year.

Here are a key few points of the revised national policy:

1. All drone operators would be exempt from seeking security clearance before registering a drone or applying for a license.

2. All foreign companies with Indian registration can now import and operate drones within the country although their parts will be regulated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

3. Several pre-requisities which were require earlier such as certificate of airworthiness, unique identification number, prior permission and remote pilot licence for entities engaged in research and development (R&D) on drones have been eliminated.

4. No pilot license would be required for the operation of drones for non-commercial purposes and nano drones.

5. The number of forms required to be filled have been reduced from 25 to just 5 and the types of fees have been brought down from 75 to just 4 now. The fees were earlier based on the size of the drone involved whereas now it is just Rs.100 minimum, regardless of the size.

All permissions shall be auto-generated on the "Digital Sky Platform" with minimal human interaction. The liberalised regulations also come with inbuilt safety features such as real-time tracking beacon and geo-fencing, which are expected to be notified in the future.

Twitter

The new Drone Rules will tremendously help startups and youth working in the sector. It will open up possibilities for innovation & business. It will help leverage India’s strengths in innovation, technology & engineering to make India a drone hubtweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi

He further said the rules, "usher in a landmark moment for this sector in India. The rules are based on the premise of trust and self-certification. Approvals, compliance requirements and entry barriers have been significantly reduced".

Coverage of drones under Drone Rules 2021 has been increased from 300kg to 500kg and will cover drone taxis, while the Issuance of certificate of airworthiness has been delegated to the Quality Council of India and certification entities authorized by it.

Air taxis will be possible in coming days under updated drone rules: Scindia

This drone policy is historic. We want to create a strong drone ecosystem in India. This policy will eliminate all unnecessary operational and entry barriers. We aim to make India a hub for drones by 2030civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said at a news conference

COVER: FlightGlobal

On August 26,the DGCA released an order stating certain high-rise buildings in Vasant Kunj area of New Delhi, crossing the maximum permissible height allowed, will need to be removed.

The order, apparently, has come as a slap on the face of many residents who have heavily invested in the apartments located in D-6, Vasant Kunj.

According to the order, the DGCA has asked the DDA to reduce the height of 15 buildings and structures in Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, and Saraswati apartments in Vasant Kunj stating non-adherence to permissible heights in the said area. Structures failing to comply with the set height standards serve as major obstacles since they are in close vicinity to the nearby IGI airport.

The Indian Express

Although flights pass every few minutes, residents have maintained that no untoward mishaps have occurred in the 20 years they've stayed there.

The permissible altitude ranges from 297.21 to 303.216 metres, depending on location of the building and distance from airport. This means infringement on all the buildings is different — they start at 0.12 metres and go up to 3.97 metres.

We will file an appeal with the airport authority and conduct a joint survey with them to see how these tanks can be moved and brought to a legal height. Houses constructed legally will stayA senior Delhi Development Authority(DDA) official said

As of August 2016,any high-rise construction in the area around IGI airport was subject to "red zone" rules. The rules stated that no buildings over 18m in height could be constructed in the red zone.The rules were later eased by bringing the area under the red zone from the earlier 129 sq.km to 60 sq.km.

These constructions also require a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the AAI, for which the developers had to apply separately. All those processes are automated now with the new online platform.

Business Standard

Also, according to aviation experts, guidelines mandate against the presence of high-rise establishments within the approach funnel of any airport. The aircraft type and the demographics of the airport has a huge bearing on the approach characteristics of an aircraft and this makes height restrictions of nearby establishments critically important.

According to international norms, all height restrictions have to be strictly applied to all establishments falling within a 20km radius from the airport.

As of December 2020,the MoCA finally notified about the amendments made in those norms pertaining to height restrictions. The validity period of NOCs have been extended from 8 years to 12 years now.

Restriction on building heights due to Automatic Dependence Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS- criteria has been relaxed. ADS-B height restriction is now applicable only up to radius of 2 km from ADS-B facility location from the earlier applicable radius of 20 km from ADS-B facilityMoCA Gazzette notification

The notification further said restrictions on height for establishments in the funnel area remain unchanged.

An approach funnel refers to specified airspace around a nominal approach path within which an aircraft approaching to land is considered to make a normal approach

Within the funnel zone, the height of buildings depends on their distance from the runway end. The height of the buildings closest is capped at around 7m. Within the 4km radius zone, called the Inner Horizontal Surface, the maximum height of buildings prescribed under the Development Control regulations is 56.9m.

Furthermore, the MoCA also stated that only those structures which are situated beyond 2 km from each individual Radar can avail benefit of higher building height through integrated & operational Airport Surveillance Radar system. This comes under revisions made to multi-radar criteria.

According to a survey conducted by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a string of structures infringing height restrictions as provided in the Civil Aviation (Height Restrictions for Safeguarding of Aircraft Operations) rules have been identified.

Currently notices have been issued to 176 relevant entities and the next hearing of the matter will be heard on September 17.

COVER: Times Now

India's Punjab National Bank on Thursday, September 2 urged a tribunal to quash the rescue plan for defunct debt-laden Jet Airways, alleging irregularities in it, a move that risks delaying any return of the airline grounded two years ago.

A consortium of London-based Kalrock Capital and a UAE-based businessman last year agreed to pump in INR 1,000 crore as working capital and give funds to creditors of Jet, which was hit hard due to piling up debt in 2019.

PNB, the court-appointed official in charge of Jet's revival, Ashish Chhawchharia, and a spokesperson for the consortium investing funds into the collapsed airline did not respond to requests for comment.

PNB is the largest shareholder in Jet Airways with a 26% stake which it secured after the invocation of a pledge in 2019.

The country's second-largest state lender PNB argues that Jet's court-appointed rescue official had initially accepted its claim of nearly INR 10 billion ($137 million) from the airline's backers, but then reduced it by INR 2 billion, according to its tribunal filing seen by Reuters.

At the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, PNB argued that a reduction of the amount was arbitrary and illegal.

PNB is the largest shareholder in Jet Airways with a 26% stake which it secured after the invocation of a pledge in 2019.

“The consent by the appellant (PNB to the revival plan) amounts to forced consent as in case of dissenting financial creditors the resolution plan entails only minimum payment of liquidation value. This differential treatment of assenting and dissenting financial creditors is discriminatory,” it said.

The airline’s resolution plan, proposed by Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, received a nod from the National Company Law Tribunal on June 22

Further, PNB argued that the resolution plan was discriminatory as it treated it on a par with its promoter Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airways and proposes a payment of a fixed sum of Rs 10,000. All other public shareholders will get one share for every 100 shares held by them in the airline upon restructuring of capital structure.

On Thursday, the tribunal agreed to hear PNB's case, Additional Solicitor General of India, Aman Lekhi, who argued for the bank, told Reuters. The case will be heard on Sept. 21.

“The approval of the resolution plan by the adjudicating authority (NCLT) is infirm both due to contravention of law and material irregularity by the resolution professional. How PNB has been treated is wrong - both substantively and procedurally."Senior Advocate and Additional Solicitor General, Aman Lekhi, who appeared for PNB.

Once India's biggest private carrier, Jet Airways was crippled by losses and a pile of debt as it attempted to compete with low-cost rivals and was forced to ground all flights in April 2019, putting at risk its lessors, suppliers, lenders and thousands of employees.

Overall, the airline plans to hire at least 1,000 employees in the first phase of its revival, sources added. However, the hunt for CEO is still on and the airline has shortlisted candidates from across India and overseas, sources added.

The airline’s resolution plan, proposed by Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, received a nod from the National Company Law Tribunal on June 22 and the airline was asked to engage with the government authorities for the slots at domestic airports.

As many as 150 ground staff of SpiceJet went on strike at the Delhi airport on Friday morning over issues related to reduced salaries and later returned to work following talks with the airline management, sources said.

When asked about the matter, SpiceJet spokesperson clarified that the carrier's flight operations at the Delhi airport are functioning normally.

"A section of employees working at the Delhi airport and having some issues have met senior officials and the matter is being resolved," the spokesperson added.

As many as 150 ground staff of SpiceJet went on strike at the Delhi airport. (Source - ANI Twitter)

Later during the day, the spokesperson said the issue with a section of SpiceJet employees at the Delhi airport has been resolved and the employees have returned to work.

"SpiceJet's flight operations remain normal," the spokesperson added.

Sources said the employees who went on strike discussed with the management their issues such as reduced salary and its disbursement.

The pandemic has severely affected airlines’ fortunes with those with weak balance sheets like SpiceJet very badly affected. In the past aviation authorities have conducted financial audits of cash-strapped airlines to ensure that their financial weakness is not having an impact on their operational safety. The DGCA in the past was used to check if such airlines are not cutting corners on maintenance and safety expenses.

SpiceJet has been paying reduced salaries to a significant number of employees since 2020 as its finances have been hit due to COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions. Other airlines in India have cut their salaries too since 2020 for the same reason.

Unloaded cargo on an aircraft with ground staffers on strike. (Source - TOI)

SpiceJet’s plan to raise money by monetising its cargo subsidiary may also not find enough takers, as demand for cargo on foreign routes from India may not stay the same once regular international flights begin.

“The demand for cargo in the international sector now is primarily because there are no international flights. That demand will move to the belly of the commercial aircraft of foreign carriers or even Indian carriers when regular international operations begin,” said a source.

India's Vistara has received the official all-clear from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for a foreign air carrier permit on August 25, 2021. Vistara was granted the final approval to conduct flights between the US and India. Vistara can now schedule commercial flights between the two countries, moving people, property and mail. The nod allows Vistara to even fly charter and cargo flights.

Vistara will retain its potential to provide international carrier services between the US and India as long as it complies with regulations proposed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and DOT. This involves complying with DOT regulations for passenger services and refunds, safety and security guidelines, among others. Towards the end of April, Vistara first applied for permission to operate US flights. The tentative approval was granted in June.

On August 25th, Vistara received final approval from the DOT for a foreign air carrier permit.

Presently, the US maintains a travel ban for foreign natives travelling from India with COVID-19 in mind. The exception is for US citizens and their families, students and legal permanent residents. Vistara is unlikely to launch long-haul flying at the moment. Most superfluous travel to India is restrained. Apart from certain exemptions, entering the country if you are a non-citizen is not so easy currently.

Therefore, Vistara should hold off as far as adding US flights is concerned at this time. One option could be to fly into the US with a stop. The airline could initiate operations to stops like Dallas, Miami, Houston, with a stop in Europe or Canada if granted fifth-freedom route access.

With the range on these aircraft, out of the airline’s hubs in Mumbai or Delhi, the aircraft can reach points across the United States. (Picture Credit - Twitter - Vistara)

The carrier wants to use its Boeing 787-9 aircraft to fly to the United States. With the range on these aircraft, out of the airline’s hubs in Mumbai or Delhi, the aircraft can reach points across the United States, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C.

However, there is no dearth of one-stop options between the US and India. Passengers can fly from a city such as Houston to India with a stop in the US, Europe, Canada, or the Middle East. Vistara would face heavy competition and might not reap financial rewards with such routing.