The Hindu Business Line : Bombardier seeks to tap India's regional market

Mumbai June 14 Bombardier Aerospace, a Canada-based company that manufactures regional aircraft and business jets, is looking to tap the growing regional market in India for flight services.

Bombardier is seeking to bring to India its high-speed turbo props and jets which, having capacities of between 50 seats and 100 seats, which are more suited for regional services.

Advantages

The fuel efficiency of these narrow-bodied aircraft would "supplement and complement the existing fleet of commercial aircraft," said Mr Prashant Mahajan, Senior Airline Analyst with Bombardier Aerospace.

With the Indian Government's increasing emphasis on intra-State connectivity and its plans to expand the ambit of aviation to various tier-II cities, there is a lot of potential for aircraft of this capacity range, Mr Mahajan said.

These aircraft also allow for flexibility in terms of seating capacity, which the manufacturer can provide, he said. Depending on the requirement of the airline, the number of seats in such aircraft could vary between 50 and 100 each.

There are other savings possible when lower capacity aircraft are deployed, said Mr Mahajan. As per the Indian Government norms, no landing charges are to be paid for an aircraft with less than a maximum certified capacity of 80 seats being operated by domestic scheduled operators.

Landing charges typically constitute 10 to 15 per cent of a single ticket fare range of $70-$75, pointed out Mr Mahajan.

"One could say that these aircraft would work like buses. Since they would be small, filling the seats would take less time. One does not have to wait for long for loading... just 45-50 passengers perhaps ... and the flight is ready to take off," said Mr Mahajan.

Routes, distances

Some of the India routes on which such aircraft could ply are Kozhikode-Bangalore, Bangalore-Coimbatore, or Thiruvananthapuram-

Hyderabad.

Talking of distances that these aircraft can fly, Mr Mahajan said that airlines could look at turbo props for the 350-400 nautical miles range. And, they could look for regional jets for longer, "thinner routes" - for example, Kochi-Delhi.

Bombardier Aerospace is in discussions with both full-service and low-cost carriers in India for selling its aircraft, said Mr Mahajan, who refused to name his potential customers.

Aircraft sales

However, the company is aiming to sell 350-500 such aircraft in India, Mr Mahajan said, without specifying a timeframe .

With the Government being very bullish on the development of airports in smaller cities, there would not be a parking problem for so many additional machines, he said.

"The risk these aircraft entail is quite low because features such as fewer seats, their light weight (they weigh less than 40 tonnes each) and their fuel-efficiency would give airlines tax advantages, concessions in landing charges, as well as additional revenues and greater connectivity using the right-sized aircraft," Mr Mahajan said.