CHAPTER -3

HISTORY GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL

AVIATION

HISTORY & GROWTH OF AVIATION.

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

PRE—NATIONALISATION DEVELOPMENT PHASE.

POST-NATIONALISATION SCENARIO.

INITIATION OF LIBERALIZATION.

LATEST SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS.

STRUCTURE OF CIVIL AVIATION.

AIR ROUTES IN INDIA.

THE STRUCTURE OF AIR TRANSPORT IN INDIA.

 CHAPTER - 3

HISTORY, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION

3.1 HISTORY & GROWTH OF AVIATION :

The history of aviation is indeed fascinating and makes a
thrilling story of adventure and achievement. Though essentially a
record of triumphs of men and machines, yet predominantly it is a
saga of brave individuals, their courageous deeds, their
unconquerable human spirit, their uncompromising determination
and above all their selfless sacrifice for a passionate cause ‘the love
for flying’.
The early aviators and experimenters toiled hard and
risked their lives to achieve the feat of flying, which they ultimately
did accomplish. Their exploits were exciting and their discoveries
are important. It behaves us today to remember, in thanks giving,
the heroic deeds of the pioneers in flying and pay tribute to the
sacrifices of earlier adventurers who made flight by man possible
and progressively made it safe. In this regard, an endeavor has
been made to recapitulate the story of aviation in a historical
perspective, collating certain scarcely known facts and recently
researched manuscripts.
A) The Human Ambition:
Man has always been cherishing the ambition to fly high
and move freely in the air. Flights of the birds always fascinate him
and stir his imagination. Being intrigued by this phenomenon of
flying which he could not accomplish in his early years, he fancifully
accorded his Gods the ability to exercise their will through the
medium of the air. Greek god Hermes wore winged sandals. Cupid is
believed to have wings, so was Mercury, the Divine Messenger. The
legends of Daedalus and his son Icarus, who flew with wings (made
of feathers fixed by wax held on to their arms), from the island of
Crete, are well known. The fable tells that Icarus flew so high that

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 31

with the heat of the sun, the wax melted, the feathers disintegrated
and he fell to his death and grieved his father.
In antiquity, the Asian imagination attributed the powers
of heavenly flight exclusively to mythological beings. The winged
gods of ancient legends were the romantic projections and fantasies
of man. The Hindu mythology is replete with such references and
many great birds like Garuda and Jatayu were degnified Hanuman,
the son of Vayu (air), could fly long distances. Flying was also a part
of high level spirituality attained by Rishis. Despite of these dreams,
man till then, all the same remained earth bound.
The chronicled history of authentic powered flights date
back barely a century, yet repeated references to flying in olden
times are found in various ancient civilisations and antique
manuscripts of several languages. Vivid references with detailed
description of flying vehicles have been found in Greek, Roman and
Sanskrit writings of yore. Creek legend mention of flying chariots
and ancient stories of the east has referred to the magical flying
carpets, which carried the princes of Baghdad through the air. The
Indian epic of Ramayana speaks of ‘Pushpak Viman’—a vehicle
capable of flying through the medium of air. Lord Rama is believed
to have returned to his kingdom, after exile, in this airship. Quite
possibly facts and fantasy have been inextricably woven in such
narration but surprisingly some fanciful conjectures in these legends
are remarkably comparable to our modern inventions. Apparently,
present day aviation is a rediscovery of the past genius!
B) The Early Attempts:
The annals record that an English monk and philosopher
Roger Bacon (1214-1294) had designed a flying chariot. So had the
Italian artist-scientist Leonard Da. Vinci (1452 - 1519), who also
devised a mechanism to enable men to operate a pair of flapping
wings by leg power. But this “ Bird Machine” was never built.
In 1507, John Damian, a philosopher and physician at
the court of James IV of Scotland, made himself a pair of wings and
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 32
launched from the high wall of the sterling castle in an attempt to fly.
He fell to the ground and was lucky to escape with just a broken leg.
Several other similar attempts to fly with winged contraptions or
dives from hilltops to achieve soft landing appear to have been
undertaken for thrill and adventure, but with a limited or no success.
Many such experiments took a toll of tragedy caused by
much the same blend of zeal and experimentation.
C) Flight With Kites:
The kites (believed to have invented in China around
1000 B. C.) were an instrument of man’s earliest success in making
a heavier than air object fly in the air. It is on record that kites of
such huge sizes had been developed which could lift a man and are
known to have been used for military purposes as early as the
seventeenth century by the Chinese and the Japanese.
History reports that Greek General, Archvtas, in 40 BC,
made several futile attempts to get airborne. One day, he stumbled
upon a sharp incline and the kite broke his fall and saved him. A
Korean General had also orce suspended a lantern from a kite as a
morale-boosting signal to his troops. And a Japanese bandit in an
ingenious attempt, stole his way into a castle by suspending himself
from a large kite, presumably to steal some fish.
D) Airlift Through Balloons:
Another line of research produced the balloon, which
provided ascent gave freedom of Movement to fly but precious title
control. A Jesuit priest named Francisco de Lana Terzi is believed to
have produced the first known design for a lighter-than-aircraft in
1670. He had toyed with the idea of a “ flying boat” with four hollow
metallic spheres that would float in the air but it failed.
It was only in the later half of the eighteenth century that
enough knowledge had been gained and gathered in the Europe to
travel through the medium of air by hot air-balloon. The Montgolfier

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 33

brothers, Joseph and Etienne, followed this line of research to
obtain lift to rise above the ground and experimented with paper
bags in the kitchen of their farm-house near Lyons.

Later, on 5th June 1783, the two brothers built a roaring

fire in the market place of their native village, Annonay, and
ascended a smoke filled balloon made of paper and linen. It
measured 35 feet in diameter.

On 19 September1783, the Montgolfiers successfully

demonstrated “ in the presence of Louis XIV and his court, in
sending to a height of about 1500 feet a silk balloon filled with hot
air carrying a rooster, a sheep and a duck in a small gondola. All
emerged safe from the experiment except that the rooster suffered a
broken leg, probably from a kick by the sheep.” Shortly after this
success, the king of France offered a criminal for experimentation in
manned flight, but considering such pursuits worthy of “officers and
gentlemen” two daring French courtiers went up instead. Thus, the
marquis d’ Arlandes and M Pilatre de Rozier were to share the
honour of being the first men to float. They made a successful
ascent in a wicker gondola swinging beneath a Montgolfier hot-air
balloon from Bois de Boulogne, Paris in 21st November 1783. The
aerostats, as the fliers were then called, stayed aloft for twenty-five
minutes, rose at least 300 feet, covered a short distance of 25 miles
and made a safe return to the ground. The era of lighter-than aircraft
had been ushered. In fact, the balloons soon became a common
sight in the French skies and in order to curb reckless and unsafe
experimentation, the French police had to issue a decree in Paris in
1784, and prohibiting balloon flights without prior special permits.
The first air law was thus promulgated.

Soon thereafter, the British, Americans, Russians, Poles

and Italians joined the French pioneers in the balloon parade. They
manufactured balloons for adventure and sport, scientific
experiments and military uses. Incidentally, the first air mail letter

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 34

was flown by Blanchard on his balloon expeditions, first In the U.S.,
on 9 January 1793, at Philadelphia. This first letter was a passport
issued by the U .S. Government addressed to the people of the
United States not to harm him. George Washington had signed this,
the then President of the United States.

The scientists soon discovered that hydrogen being

lighter than air could be used instead of hot air because as air cools
it becomes relatively heavier and the balloon comes down. So
hydrogen balloons could ascend higher and stay longer in the sky. In
1783 J.A.C.Charles, a French physicist, had filled a silk balloon with
hydrogen gas and sent aloft. But these were “free balloons” and
depended on the mercy of winds. All the same, balloons could not be
steered and but perforce floated with the wind rather unmonitored.
These were unsatisfactory and hazardous too. Nevertheless,
enthusiastic balloonists had been undertaking flights for the
exhilarating experience it offered or for scientific investigations over
the centuries. It is, of course, on record that balloons have
ascended to the troposphere and even the stratosphere. The record
height flown in a balloon so far is 1,02,000feet whereas it should be
possible to achieve ascent upto 1,20,000 feet. Chronicles have it
that in August 1931, Piccard flew in a balloon to an altitude of nine
and a half miles above the earth.

E) Airships and Dirigibles:

The next stage of development was the construction of

airships called “ dirigibles or blimps" which remained aloft by
buoyancy alone. These were based on the Archimedean principle
and were actually an adaptation of the balloons. Meusnier, a French
army officer conceived the design of its cigar-like shape, in 1784,
but for the purpose of propulsion the steam engines then existing
were too heavy. For its success, this design had to wait till the
invention of petrol driven engine in 1890. As yet, these had neither
propelling force nor steering systems. But such controls were

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 35

gradually improvised and developed. On 9th August 1884 a
controlled flight in an electrically powered dirigible was
accomplished. It was the airship; "La France” fabricated by Charles
Renard and Ac Krebs. It consisted of an envelope of Chinese silk
and a car of bamboo trolley work. It possessed power and controls
sufficient to return to the point of ascent and it made a circular flight
of five miles.

Shortly afterwards in 1900, Count Graf Ferdinand Von

Zeppelin, a German army officer, developed an airship that was
made of aluminum in large cigar-shaped streamlined hull, inside
which were compartments filled with hydrogen gas. It had aircrews
propelled by petrol engine. In July 1900 he flew in it over Lake
Konstanz. Zeppelin was successful. By 1910 he had put into the air
large passenger and cargo carry airships which were the self-
propelled dirigibles, albeit lighter than air. During the First World
War, Germany used zeppeiin for dropping bombs over London.
Later, in 1919, the huge German airship “Graft Zeppelin” flew round
the world in twenty-one days. But airships had many disadvantages,
inter alia, their shape, and huge size, which made its control difficult
in strong, winds.

Even greater danger came from fire because hydrogen

catches fire easily. Over the years the airships were involved in a
series of accidents, and the worst of these happened in 1937 to
"Hindenberg” while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, U.S.A., in
which 36 lives were lost and this brought an end to the age of
airships. The tragedy was awesome and the confidence wasshaken.

3.2 DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION INDUSTRY IN INDIA :

A perusal of the changing air-route map in India during

the period 1932 till 1953 reveals the historical development in air
transport business in India.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 36

A) Pre-Nationalisation Development Phase:
The air transport service in India grew steadily during the
pre-nationalisation period between 1932 and 1939, until Second
World War temporarily disrupted these services. War however
brought boom into Civil Aviation in India with post war inventory of
surplus aircraft, network of aerodromes and ground based
meteorological, navigation and communication infrastructure. As a
consequence early enthusiasm led to mushrooming of a number of
domestic airlines without due consideration of minimum need for
planning /orgainsation and back-up overhaul/ repair infrastructures
and above all financial resources.
The development of post-war Civil Aviation scenario in
India was perceived and analysed by the then Director General of
Civil Aviation, known as 'Tymm’s plan’ who recommended:
i) Licensing of air transport services by an Autonomous Licensing
Board.
ii) Scheduled air service to be entrusted only to the few competent
private airline Companies, not exceeding four, each assigned
with adequate route mileage and scope for development, so as
to ensure efficient and economic use of aircraft fleet, ground
equipment and manpower.
iii) Airlines to operate on commercial basis in order to meet certain
cost and or revenue targets, to be viable.
The interim government formed prior to Independence in
September 1946, however, ignored such economic realities of the
nascent airline industry to enable its healthy and orderly growth.
Further, ministerial interference’s and pressures spoilt the basic
character of an ‘Autonomous Licensing Body’ which subsequently
granted provisional license to 11 operators for 51 routes, form
among hundred applicants for 96 routes covering whole of India.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 37

 Indiscriminate licensing of several operators,
substantially on the same route, restricted their market shares and
utilisation of assets. This lead to low load factors, higher operating
cost, and therefore lowering of safety/service standards. Lack of
logistics and maintenance support further deteriorated the status of
the airline industry. Fixing of fares and freight rates by licensing
board was not commensurate with operating cost, further enhancing
the losses due to heavy cost of fuel. The combined effect resulted in
increased financial losses, sickness, and disintegration of air
transport activity leading towards its ultimate doom.
To review the state of domestic air transport operations
an enquiry committee was constituted in early 1950. The committee
was expected to identify the ways and means to place the air
services on sound economic footing, to foster sound and healthy
growth. The committee in their report pointed out that the critical
state of the industry is due to indiscriminate and unsound licensing
of too many operators causing unhealthy competition and due to
increased operation cost and reduced revenues for operators. By
1952 except for one small flying NE India, all other airlines faced
closure due to mounting fosses. Planning commission recommended
the merger of eight scheduled airlines and taking over by the
Government. As a result, Air corporation Act, 1953 came into being
with two corporations namely AIR INDIA INTERNATIONAL (All) for
International services and INDIAN AIRLINES CORPORATION (IAC)
with merger of eight private airlines for domestic air services
respectively. Nationalisation thus ended an eventful era of private
enterprise in air transport sector.
B) Post-Nationalisation Scenario:
As a start with nationalisation began an orderly take
off of Indian aviation in early 50’s. Indian Airlines Corporation
successfully overcame the complexity of integration of assets and
business culture of 8 different domestic airlines. These airlines were

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 38

operating scheduled air services from spread-out bases and had
large manpower with varying work culture and emoluments. It is to
the credit of Indian Airlines management that this task was
accomplished admirably well in a short time. Indian Airlines
Corporation was transformed into an efficient and homogeneous
organisation, which consolidated its ground support services.
Carried out standardisation of operational set-up fleet and expanded
service network by nationalising its routes.

During 1954-55 Indian Airlines Corporation carried

around 4,80,000 passengers. Despite heavy burdens of wages of
excess manpower and obsoietes inventory of equipment/capital
assets. Indian Airlines Corporation managed to contain its
operational costs (including 35% costs towards fuel taxation)
gradually reducing operating losses and even made marginal profits
in 1959-60. To cater for growth in traffic, Indian Airlines Corporation
introduced modern medium size jet service on trunk routes and
selectively also flew International services. The historical traffic
analysis shows by and large steady and long-term average growth at
times in access of over 10 % per year. Apart from being capacity
dependent the traffic growth has been strongly influenced by
national income of the country in Industrial business growth and
tourist promotion. For the first time in 1987-88 Indian Airlines
crossed 10-million passenger mark.

The Indian Airlines the domestic National Carrier

and Air India, the International flag carrier, come a long way during
nationalisation on 1st August 1953. The Indian carriers early days
performance the route network served vis-a-vis the rate of growth of
passenger freight traffic carried. Compares favorably with the
airlines of the world. The then existing airports and ground
infrastructure could also sustain the demand and service
requirements. The early growth phase was good despite being
wholly state-owned airlines, till such time complacency set in typical
of a monopolistic service provider. Political and Bureaucratic
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 39
interference’s in day to day management of operations demoralised
the management, creating in-discipline, indifference among
subordinate staff leading to industrial unrest and low morale
maintained its edge through latest and state-of-the-art aircraft. It
carried out fleet expansions and improved ground handling and
supports services.
In seventies, Air India expanded its services of
Gulf countries supporting mass migration of Indian laboureRs. At
present, it operates over 67 services per week between India and
Gulf. It also extended its services to Africa. The seventies also
stimulated modernisation and improvements in Air India’s service.
The Eighties started with fleet renewal exercise.
Airbus aircraft were introduced into service, earlier monopolies with
Boeing range of aircraft. The downslide in its performance and
profitability started with off and on industrial unrest and due to
increasing competition in International services. Air India’s seat
factor and market share thereafter continued to decline in the
nineties due to low utilisation of crew and aircraft, increasing cost of
operations and losses eating into its reserves.
C) Initiation of Liberalisation:

In July 1991, the Central Government of India

initiated economic reforms, when faced with compulsion of balance
of payment and dwindling forex reserves. With the liberalisation, the
economic parameters strengthened, and all round progress noticed
in industrial and national growth. The liberalisation process in Civil
Aviation, commenced early w.e.f. 1990-91, by allowing International
freighters to operate air cargo services from to India without
reference to Director General of Civil Aviation. This helped
International trade in particular export, with upliftment of air cargo
piled up at the airports. The shippers were thus benefited with timely
availability of capacity, range of service and wider choice of rates-
hence the term 'Open Sky’ for the air cargo was coined.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 4Q
 This however, did not happen in the case of
passenger services, when air taxi operations were first introduced to
fill the vacuum of feeder service to Indian Airlines left by disruption
of Vayudoot. The destructive environment then prevailing were not
conducive for private non scheduled carriers to take off.

Further liberalisation measures in 1992-94, led to

entry of number of entrepreneurs as Air Taxi Operator willing to
provide domestic services on several routes including trunk routes
was opened up due to strikes in Indian Airlines Corporation.
Introduction of bill for repeal of Air Corporation Act in Parliament
(1992-93) raised the enthusiasm of Air Taxi Operators. As a
consequence, exodus of trained pilots and engineers from Indian
Airlines started for greener pastures and better emoluments offered
by the private sector. Air Taxi Operators were lucky to have trained
crew and ground staff and leased aircraft without having to commit
sunk costs.

Despite initial restrictions and confusions during

first 3-4 years, as many as 17 operators got 'no objection certificate’
for air taxi operations and general aviation and subsequently seven
became scheduled airlines during April 1994 on repeal of air
corporation act. History was thus repeated. Early sign of sickness in
industry was noticed with first few Air Taxi Operators ceasing
operations and a highly rated scheduled airline also nose diving mid
flight after two years of flying. Despite of this, the year 1994-95
witnessed an unprecedented growth in domestic air traffic, increased
tourist air charter flight, steady growth of air cargo operations and
launching of modernisation projects on airport infrastructure. It
appeared all is well with Indian Civil Aviation. The year 1995 further
witnessed record air traffic in domestic sector.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 41

14208
A
3.3 LATEST SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS:

A) Open Sky Policy:

In order to help the Indian exporters and make their export more
competitive, the Government had introduced in April 1990 an “Open
Sky Policy" for cargo. Under this policy any foreign airline or
association of exporters can bring freighters to the country for
upliftment of cargo.
B) Repeal of Air Corporation Act 1953:
The Government ended the monopoly of India Airlines and Air India
on the scheduled operations by repealing the Air Corporation Act
1953. Air India Limited and Indian Airlines Limited were registered
as companies under the Corporation and Indian Airlines Corporation
were transferred to the respective new companies with effect from
March 1st, 1994. There are at present seven private scheduled
airlines (four at present not operating due to the non-availability of
operational aircraft) operating on the domestic network. Apart from
this 28 Air Taxi operators are providing non-scheduled air services.
A new policy on domestic air transport service was approved in April
1997, according to which barriers to entry and exit form this sector
has been removed. Choice of aircraft type and size has been left to
the operators; entry of serious entrepreneurs only has been
ensured; and equity from foreign airlines directly or indirectly, In this
sector has been prohibited. The existing policy on air taxi services
providing for a route dispersal plan to ensure operation of a
minimum number of services in the North Eastern Region, Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir has
been retained.
3.4 STRUCTURE OF INDIAN CIVIL AVIATION:

The Ministry of Civil Aviation of the Government of India

is the apex body in the regulatory/ (organisational) structure of Civil
Aviation in India. The ministry of Civil Aviation is responsible for the

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 42

formulation of national policies and program’s for development and
regulation of Civil Aviation and for devising and implementing
schemes for orderly growth and expansion of civil air transport. Its
functions also extend to overseeing the provisions of airport
facilities, air traffic services and carriage of passengers, goods, and
services. Within its administrative perview lie three distinct
functional entities namely regulatory cum development, operational, '
and infrastructural.
A) Regulatory Functions:
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Bureau
of Civil Aviation security performs the regulatory functions, which is
responsible for ensuring adequate security arrangements at the
airports in all its aspects.
B) Operational Functions:
The operational functions are performed by Air India ltd.,
and other scheduled non-scheduled airline operators. Air India ltd.
(Al) provides International air services to/from India, Indian Airlines
ltd. and other scheduled non-scheduled operators are responsible
for providing domestic air service in the country. Indian Airlines ltd.
Provides International Air service to some of the neighboring
countries Pawan Hans ltd. Provides helicopter support service
primarily to the petroleum sector.
C) Infrastructural Functions:
The Airport Authority of India provides the infrastructural
facilities, which is responsible for the management of 92 airports,
including the five International airports Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta,
Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram, and 28 civil enclaves at the
defence airports. The airport authority of India was formed on 1st
April 1995 by the merger of International airporUauthority of India.
The new authority is responsible for providing safe,
efficient air traffic services and aeronautical communication services
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 43
for effective control of air traffic in the Indian air space. It controls
and manages the entire Indian space extending beyond the
territorial limits of the country. The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran
Academy is the premier-flying institute responsible for imparting
flying training for an award of commercial pilot licence and
commercial helicopters pilots licence. Hotel Corporation of India, a
subsidiary of Air India ltd., is responsible for providing in-flight
catering and it also operates hotels in the vicinity of airports for
catering to the transit passengers. Major Participants in Civil
Aviation in Indfo. . 1 ............. —*

Organisation Brief Description

Air India * National Flag Carrier engaged in

International Operations with 28
aircrafts

* Flies Boeing 747s and Airbus

A300/A310 to 5 continents

Indian Airlines * National Flag Carrier engaged in

domestic operations.

* Also operating to neighboring

countries.

* Flies 10 Airbus A300 and 30 Airbus A

320S.

Alliance Air * Subsidiary of Indian Airlines.

* Operates with 11 Boeing 737s (after

July17, 2000 crash of an aircraft) and
3 Dornier228s

Jet Airways * India's largest private airline and also

the most successful one.

* Operates 25 Boeing 737s including

India’s first 737-800 and 4ATR-72-

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 44

 500s. Operates more than 30
destinations.

Sahara Airlines * Operating 8 Boeing 737s including

one B737-700.

* Also operates 4 Helicopters.

Pawan Hans * Operates 30 Helicopters which include

20 Dolphin Helicopters AS365N, 3
Bell206L4, 2Bell407, 2R44 and SMI-
172.

* Provides service to the offshore rigs

belonging to Oil and Natural Gas
Commission, a government
organisation engaged in oil
exploration.

Archana Airways * Presently not in operation.

NEPC Airways * Presently not in operation.

Skyline (Damania) * Presently not in operation.

Department of Civil Aviation * A department under the Ministry of

Civil Aviation, Government of India
performs the regulatory functions for
the whole industry Monitors,
regulates and controls all agencies
engaged in the Civil Aviation industry
in India.

Airports Authority Of India * Provides Air Traffic Services and

Passenger Handling facilities at 5
International and 81 Domestic
Airports.

Provides Passenger handling facilities

at additional 34 airports belonging to

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 45

 other agencies Handling 37 million
passengers, 6,89,000 tonnes of cargo
and 4,20,000 aircraft movements in
1998-99.

3.5 AIR ROUTES IN INDIA:

The current route network of India is in the form of a grid

based on the diamond rectangle of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and
Chennai. Flights are scheduled to operate on a number of different
routes without backtracking. There are a total of over sixty domestic
ATS (Air Traffic Services) routes. Some of them link more than two
aerodromes as they stretch from one corner of the country to
another. There are either direct flights between city pairs such as
Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Bangalore, or flights between two points with
one or more intermediate stoppages for example the Air India flight
between Delhi and Guwahati has intermediate stoppages at Calcutta
and Agartala. Then again there are circuitous routes where a flight
starts in the morning for ^4xample from Delhi through Jodhpur to

Jaipur and back to Delhi. The flights usually operate in a grid and
there is usually no change of aircraft.

The busiest Air Taxi Services routes for India are: —

*Mumbai to Delhi "Delhi to Chennai

*Mumbai to Chennai "Delhi to Hyderabad

*Mumbai to Calcutta "Mumbai to Ahmedabad

"Delhi to Calcutta "Mumbai to Indore and Bhopal

"Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram "Mumbai to Bangalore via

Belgaum

"Mumbai to Rajkot and Jamnagar

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation sets guidelines

and charts routes over the Indian Airspace. The routes are
categorised in to three Categories:

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 46

Category I routes connecting the following stations :

Mumbai—Bangalore Calcutta-Bangalore.

Mumbai—Delhi Calcutta-Chennai.

Mumbai—Chennai Delhi-Bangalore.

Mumbai—Thiruvanthapuram Delhi-Hyderabad.

Calcutta—Delhi Delhi-Chennai.

Category II routes connecting stations in the Northeast

region, Jammu & Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and
Lakshadweep.

Category III routes, which are routes other than Category

I and II routes. The category III routes are basically the regional
routes in the country. Some of these routes connect large cities and
are fairly profitable (for instance vadodara with Mumbai, Coimbatore
with Chennai) and with other regional centres, (for example
Ahmedabad to Aurangabad.)

It is laid down that all scheduled operators will deploy at

least 10% of their deployed capacity in the Northeast region, Jammu
& Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep
(Ctegory II routes). 1 percent of capacity is to be deployed
exclusively on category II stations. 50 percent of the capacity
provided on category I routes is to be provided on routes other than
category I and II routes.

The operators are, however free to provide the services

on routes in Category II and III either by aircraft in their own fleet or
with aircraft in any other operators fleet on mutually agreed terms
with prior approval of the Directorate General of Civil Avation.

Similarly Air Services are also categorised in to four

mutually exclusive types. That is every operator is to fall in only one
of the following categories.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 47

1. Shceduled Air services covering air traffic routes, minimum haul
destinations, and the uneconomical routes in the Northeast,
Jammu & Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the
Lakshadweep. These services are undertaken between the same
two or more places and operated according to a published time
table or with flights showing recognisable systematic series, each
flight being open to use by the members of the general public.

2. Regional Airlines operating from state Headquarters and covering

one or more states intensively. These are meant for inter state
transport movement connecting the state Head Quarters with
important regional/district Head quarters.

3. Non-Scheduled (Air Taxi) charter services covering specialised

traffic such as business tours, executive flights, and special
flights to destinations for non-specific routes where shceduled air
operators are not operating. The operator is not allowed to
publish time table and issue tikets to the passengers.

4.Air cargo services for transportation of cargo and mail.

Passengers are not permitted on these services which may be on
scheduled or non-shceudled basis. These operations are within
India. For operations abroad the Director General of Civil
Aviation’s permission is requried.

3.6 THE STURCTURE OF AIR ROUTES IN INDIA:

Internationally, airlines are normally divided into 3 major

categories-turnk, regional, and air taxi. Trunk airlines tend to fly on
relatively long high density ‘trunk’ routes; regional airlines connect
relatively lower density routes; and air taxi operators offer chartered
or 'on demand’ services. The Indian aviation policies also recognise
this distinction. However, the policies also force airlines to not follow
such specialisation. Consequently predominantly airlines are not
currently specialised in India, as they are abroad (exception
vayudoot and Alliance Air) moreover, current policy also hinders the
operations of Air Taxi operators.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 48
 The current route network in India is linked around the
four major international airports of Delhi, Mumbai, chennai and
Calcutta. The route network is in the form of a diamond grid around
these international airports. In a market where the traffic is low this
kind of network allows for high rates of utilisation, of both aircraft
and crews. Flights can also be scheduled to operate on a number of
different routes without backtracking, which helps to minimise the
time for which aircraft are idle on the ground.
A) Trunk Routes:
These comprise of the major routes with high traffic. These are
essentially the same as Category I routes mentioned above. These
routes connect the major metropolitan cities in the country and since
the dtraffic on these routes is high, they fly larger aircraft. The flight
frequency on these routes is also high, making it relatively
convenient for passengers to choose.
The best-connected routes are Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai,
Delhi- Calcutta and Delhi- Chennai. These route sectors comprise
the bulk of the passenger traffic in the country. Moreover, the bulk of
the international traffic also flows through the major metros named
above. Consequently, these routes also connect international
airports that have the highest traffic flows in the country.
B) Regional Routes:
As opposed to trunk routes, regional routes have a
distinctly regional focus, wherein, they connect small cities with
each other (not connected by trunk routes) as well as smaller cities
with major cities. Regional airlines provide link services from the
regional points to major international gateway airports as also to
important economic centres and other regional centres. Though
regional airlines should not be thought of as only short haul airlines,
because they do fly substantially longer routes on which the trunk
airlines do not operate. Regional airlines the world over are usually
smaller and often more profitable.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 49
C) Low Density Rontes:

Low-density routes may either be Category II or Category

III. Various factors are responsible for low densities, inadequate
connectivity and air infrastructure (such as that for landing
purposes), and low demand in the area. In other words, it is
sometimes argued that because of poor connectivity and inadequate
infrastructure, some routes do not show high levels of air travel. On
the other hand, low densities could also be observed because some
places and routes do not have high demand.

References: - G. S. Sachdeva. Air Law and Policy in India,

contributory article “History of Aviation". P.P.33 to 44.
National concil of Applied Economic Research, Draft Report June12,
2000. “Indian Civil Aviation for the Future”. P.P 52,55-57,60.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA - A STUDY AFTER LIBERALIZATION 50