It’s been a little over a month since the Government of India announced key reforms and policy targets in the aviation sector. Among them were plans of substantial rejigging of the country’s Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) industry. What changes has the government proposed in the MRO sector, and how will it impact the Indian aviation market? Let’s have a look.

The Indian government is keen to develop aircraft maintenance facilities in the country. Photo: Getty Images

New MRO policy to attract investors

In September, India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia discussed, among other things, several changes the government wishes to bring about in the MRO business sector. He lamented that India only holds a tiny 2.5% share of the mammoth $80 billion global aircraft maintenance industry.

Scindia said that India has a huge potential to become a global aircraft maintenance hub and announced key changes in MRO policy to attract investment:

Leasing of land will now be done through open tenders instead of allotment based on an entity’s request.Land for MRO facilities will be allotted for 30 years instead of the current 3 to 5 years.Lease rentals would be decided through a bidding process instead of the current practice of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) determining the rates.The rate of escalation of lease rental would be 15% every three years instead of the current 7.5 to 10% yearly increase.The process of contract renewal of existing leaseholders will also be more transparent. Earlier, contract renewals were decided on a case-to-case basis without much transparency. It will now be done through a bidding process with the existing leaseholder having the right of first refusal if his bid is within 15% of the bid given by the highest bidder, and he agrees to match the rates quoted by the highest bidder.The 13% turnover royalty charged by the AAI will be removed completely.

The ministry has also identified eight AAI-run airports where MRO facilities will be developed – Begumpet, Bhopal, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Juhu in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Tirupati.

Indian carriers have to send their airplanes to foreign countries for most maintenance work. The new government policy plans to change that. Photo: Getty Images

Impact on Indian MRO industry

The ministry wants to tap into India’s vast engineering and IT talent to develop large-scale MRO facilities in the country. Currently, airlines in India send their aircraft to foreign countries – mainly to the Middle East and the South-East Asian region, as it’s a lot more economical than to repair them locally.

As reported by the Hindustan Times, the Indian MRO industry is worth $2 billion annually. Of this, only 16% of the business is handled locally. Within the MRO services, the engine and aircraft component maintenance, in particular, is quite lucrative, and the government would want to develop these facilities in the country.

The HT report quoted Anand Bhaskar, managing director, and chief executive officer at Air Works Group, which runs an independent MRO unit with facilities across locations:

“With the country’s aviation industry on a growth trajectory, it makes ample sense to capitalise this precious opportunity and expand the country’s aviation maintenance capabilities for greater self-reliance, job creation and to scale up the value chain, instead of just concentrating on airframes, which most Indian MROs currently do.”

With more than 700 airplanes of Indian carriers alone, there is enormous potential within the MRO sector in the country. Photo: Getty Images

Positive steps

The change in MRO policy is certainly a step in the right direction. The announcement follows the government’s decision last year to reduce the goods and services tax (GST) on aircraft repair and maintenance from 18% to 5%.

It remains to be seen if India could eventually become the global MRO hub that the aviation ministry is aiming for. At the moment, there’s massive potential within the country itself with 700+ aircraft of Indian airlines that require regular maintenance. Hopefully, these policy changes will give the Indian MRO industry a significant boost.

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One of the most iconic commercial airliners, Concorde gave passengers a taste of supersonic flight for nearly three decades. Its speed was a blessing for many – super busy (and wealthy) business travellers who enjoyed a particularly short hop over the Atlantic, and for transporting important cargo such as supplies and organs for transplant during medical emergencies. However, the same speed also caused many roadblocks, including the aircraft being banned from a few countries. Let’s find out more.

During its operational history, Concorde was banned in a few countries due to noise issues. Photo: Getty Images

Challenges from the start

Even before Concorde took to the skies commercially, there were voices of dissent against its environmental consequences. In 1966, British environmental activist Richard Wiggs founded the Anti-Concorde Project that challenged the idea of any kind of supersonic transport aircraft.

The booms of the sonic tests leading up to the first test flight of Concorde would often startle people and cause windows to crack. To highlight the long-term effects of a supersonic jetliner, Wiggs used mass-media advertising campaigns, including full-page advertisements in the national press. He made claims of Concorde affecting the ozone layer and drew attention to its noise levels.

Environmental activist Richard Wiggs founded the Anti-Concorde Project, challenging any kind of supersonic commercial transportation. Photo: Getty Images

By the time Concorde was launched, many countries were convinced that the plane was not a good choice to fly over land and was suitable for supersonic flights only over water. This didn’t leave much choice for potential Concorde customers in terms of network expansion using the jet.

Over the course of its operational history, Concorde was banned by a few countries due to its sonic boom’s noise.

Initial ban in the US

Some of the first defining flights of Concorde were its transatlantic services from London and Paris to New York and Washington. However, the aircraft faced opposition for quite a while from authorities at Big Apple before it could fly into the city.

On March 11th, 1976, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey banned Concorde from landing at JFK Airport over noise issues. Protests had actually started a year before the official ban when around 2,000 cars stopped traffic near the airport.

Concorde was denied entry to New York for 17 months by authorities over noise pollution. Photo: Getty Images

Both British Airways and Air France found the ban baseless and filed a lawsuit in 1977. In August 1977, a District Court Judge in New York found the ban “discriminatory and unfair” and allowed Concorde test landings in the following 10 days.

In October 1977, the Supreme Court finally lifted the ban stating that the Port Authority was “dragging its feet” with the ban not based on any clear noise requirements.

Opposition in Malaysia and India

Before the US ban was lifted and slots were denied at JFK, both Air France and British Airways began looking at other destinations to use their new Concordes. BA wanted to deploy the supersonic jet to Sydney and was looking for a stopover city for refueling purposes. Singapore seemed a suitable choice.

The airline was already running a thrice-weekly service to Bahrain and extended the service to Singapore as the next stage. However, the flight to Singapore met with huge opposition in Malaysia over the plane’s supersonic boom. The service had to be stopped after just three flights.

BA and Singapore’s joint venture of Concorde flights between the two nations also faced hurdles from Malaysia and India. Photo: Getty Images

Crossing India to reach Singapore was also a suitable option for BA, but it had also refused to allow the plane to fly at supersonic speed over its airspace. Many believe, however, that the real reason for both Malaysia and India to deny Concorde entry was political, as both countries were trying to obtain important slots at London Heathrow at the time.

BA eventually figured out another route to Singapore, but it consumed so much fuel that the service ended for good on November 1st, 1980, citing unprofitable operations.

The aircraft, however, went on to fly for more than two decades after that before ceasing operations in 2003 with a final flight between London (LHR) and New York (JFK).

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Being a university student is a curious paradox, in the sense that you have more time to explore the world, but less money with which to do so. With this in mind, several airlines offer students discounts and/or perks to help enable such youthful exploration. These are particularly useful for those studying abroad. Let’s look at some examples of such schemes.

Singapore Airlines offers student perks to KrisFlyer members. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Ryanair’s Erasmus partnership

The Erasmus Programme has made study abroad years possible for EU students since 1987. I am one of the millions of students lucky enough to have partaken in the scheme. Erasmus gives students the opportunity to study at a foreign partner university, while receiving financial assistance in the form of a grant to cover certain living costs.

Being a low-cost carrier with an extensive European network, Ryanair plays a key part in transporting participating students across the continent. As such, the Irish budget airline established a partnership with the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) in 2017.

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Thousands of Erasmus students take to the air across Europe every September. Photo: TimOve via Flickr

The ESN states that:

“The Erasmus Generation is a generation of Europeans that are perennially curious, open-minded and full of wanderlust. This is made possible not only through the success of the European project and initiatives such as Schengen and Erasmus+, but also thanks to companies like Ryanair, without which it would be much harder to travel around Europe.”

The partnership allows participating students to receive a 10% discount on up to four one-way flights (or two return trips) during their year abroad. Furthermore, they can check in a 20kg bag free of charge. These perks are only valid between September and June of the academic year in question, despite countries like Germany having terms that run until July.

Ryanair has helped Erasmus students since 2017. Photo: Getty Images.

Singapore Airlines

Full-service carriers like Singapore Airlines also offer certain perks to student travelers. These are available to members of its KrisFlyer loyalty program who have verified their student status at an eligible university. Like Ryanair, Singapore Airlines also offers free baggage to students. Participating passengers get either 40kg, or three bags if traveling to the US.

In terms of savings, Singapore Airlines’ student offer sees such travelers receive a 10% discount. This is valid for a stay abroad up to 12 months in length. The discount applies to Lite, Value, or Standard economy fares, as well as tickets in the premium economy cabin.

The best discount of all?

Ryanair and Singapore Airlines are just a couple of examples of several carriers worldwide that work hard to make air travel more affordable for students. However, there are some instances in which students have been offered flights that are not just discounted, but free!

Frontier offered students free tickets last year. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

As it happens, Denver-based ultra-low-cost operator Frontier Airlines implemented such an offer for students last year. Admittedly, these were only available for a limited period (March-May 2020), but it was still an admirable gesture from the all-Airbus carrier.

Frontier implemented the deal at a key travel time for students, in a period encompassing both Easter and spring break. The carrier made the offer available on routes to nearly 100 destinations, helping students all over the country to travel home for free.

Have you ever taken advantage of any of these offers? Perhaps you’ve flown with other carriers that have similar schemes in place for students? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.