Flying Solo

A crisis in the middle of nowhere. You have to rush from site to site but the earliest train is available only after two days, apart from the fact that there is an 8-hour drive to the problem site.

Or what if your foreign collaborators are here with a schedule tighter than that of the Finance Minister on budget day? They have to visit the branch offices across the country. Can you get confirmed airline tickets?

These situations are just some reasons why even as car rentals emerge as big money-rakers aircraft leasing, too, is gaining momentum.

Who is it for: According to Y K Nayar, manager-commercial, India International Airways (IIA), Ninety-five per cent of our clients are corporate and multinational companies. The rest are foreign tourists. During elections, politicians use our aircrafts extensively.

 

Capt Virendra Gupta, CEO, Multi-Track says, This kind of air-taxi service caters to a select clientele who place high value on time. Say you want to go from Ahmedabad to Calcutta. In the absence of a direct flight you have to take a detour by plane or train. Alternately, you could charter a flight. The former may cut travel expenses but cost you a deal.

Clients are either on long-term leases with a bank of estimated flying hours or ad-hoc customers who make short, sudden trips. Obviously, deals vary for both.

A lot of foreign tourists too like to fly. We recently had a request for an Indian Airlines A 320 jet for a group of 100 tourists who wanted to attend an evening party in Jaipur, then return to board their early morning flights from Delhi, relates Capt Gupta.

The cost of chartering this 145-seater is a whopping Rs 2.38 lakh per hour. Assuming there was no delay in landing or take off, they would have easily paid for a good 90 minutes air-time.

Service offered: Air taxis or chartered aircrafts have a broader spectrum of utility. While an executive jet delivers comfort and speed, a chopper can cover more - off-shore operations, pipeline inspection, connections to remote areas, even aerial photography. Pawan Hans, a public enterprise with the largest fleet of 27, has begun heli-skiing services at Manali, too.

Fixed wing or helicopter: The cost aside, first decide on numbers. Helicopters take three to 26 passengers depending on the model and the small aircrafts/jets 5-50. Big entourages require airline jets that can carry 115 to even upto 270.

Point-to-point choppers are good for inaccessible places. They dont need special landing strips but check the ceiling on flight height. Dauphin and Robinson copters are limited to 14,000 and 18,000 ft but a Bell or an MI-172 can touch 20,000 ft.

Since executive jets fly faster, chartering a fixed-wing craft is cheaper than a copter. Compare the cost of travelling by both ex-Delhi: a 6-seater Bell 222 UT copter costs Rs 50,000 per hour whereas a 6-seater C-90 A, twin turbo prop is Rs 35,000 per hour and a Piper Chieftain jet would carry 8 for Rs 30,000 an hour.

How to charter: Either approach charter operators like Pawan Hans, IIA, Span Air, Mescos Tower, etc directly or agents like Multi-Track. We are like a departmental store. We can simultaneously check out the availability of a craft from different operators, says Capt Gupta.

You have to ask for a quotation and give the destination and estimated flight time. Service is on a first-come-first-served basis. People sometimes book a month in advance, observes Nayar.

The downside is that in an emergency, the required aircraft may not be available.

Budget a charter: Costs are calculated base to base, a one-way ride costs the same as a round trip. So keep the closest base in mind. To fly Udaipur to Jaipur, charter ex-Delhi, not Mumbai.

If you are travelling from Delhi to Udaipur and back by Indian Airlines, the trip will cost you Rs 4,760 (inclusive of IATT). A group of seven will thus shell out Rs 33,320. If you charter an aircraft at Rs 30,000 an hour it will cost Rs 1.05 lakh minus IATT as the trip lasts 3 hours 30 minutes.

An Ahmedabad to Calcutta trip entails detours. One can travel from Ahmedabad to Delhi and Delhi to Calcutta. Aboard Indian Airlines it costs Rs 7,890 per head or Rs 55,230 for seven people.

A chartered flight will charge for Delhi-Ahmedabad (if charterer is in Delhi), Ahmedabad-Calcutta and Calcutta-Delhi, journey time of 7 hours or a bill of Rs 2.10 lakh.

The difference in costs may seem extreme if you compare just on the basis of cost but when time is short, it may be viable.

While operators in the same area keep rates almost at par, variations arise between the bases. Mumbai is the hub of corporatedom, the demand for charters is more. So, costs are higher than in Delhi, says Capt Gupta. Even ex-Chennai is costlier than the Capital, an F-27 plane costs Rs 65,000 more per hour there.

Budget also for a 15 per cent Inland Air Travel Tax (IATT) unless paying in forex (Indian Airline jets charge tax even so).

Operators usually offer free time on landing that varies from one to four hours after which the charges are much reduced. The payments are always taken in advance (see table) and final billing is done on return, with the refund or excess adjusted.

Restrictions: The flight plan has to be filed with the Airport Authority but to land in a restricted area like the Agra airport you need clearance from the defence headquarters. The Director Gen-eral of Civil Aviations permission is needed for aerial photography.

Similarly, to land in a remote area you need the local authority's permission. Flying Pawan Hans means you have to do the legwork (allow at least a week to collect these), but private operators will obtain the DGCA clearance. Just a casual air-ride can be done even at two hours notice during duty hours and four hours during off-duty.

Add-ons: Unlike Pawan Hans which is very strict in the matter of incentives, private operators offer almost 3-6 per cent discount to agents and tour operators. Sometimes we do give discounts to oour regular clients or an introductory discount to a potential customer, Nayar admits.

The maximum benefits go to regular charterers. While Pawan Hans charges a fixed monthly charge in addition to the hourly fee, others like IIA charge only hourly tariffs for the fixed number of flying hours they decide at the beginning of the contract.

Steps are already being initiated for special tie-ups. For instance, Capt Guptas Multi-Track already offers an air-conditioned courtsey car for airport transfers (this facility is available s only in Delhi currently).

A PLANE OF ONES OWN

The following table indicates the kind of aircrafts one can charter for different rates per hour from different charter operators or agents. This list is not exhaustive.

H: Helicopter ; A: Aeroplane; EJ: Executive Jet

PH: Pawan Hans; IIA: India International Airways; MT : Multi-Track

Tariff/hr What is Available

Rs 15,000 Robinson R-44(H); 3-seater(PH)

Rs 20,000 Observer (A); 5-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Robinson (H); 3-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 22,500 Baron-58 (A); 5-seater (MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 25,000 Hiller (H); 2-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 26,500 Beech-99 (A); 12-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 30,000 Bell 206 L4 (H); 6-seater(PH)

Bell 206 B (H); 3-seater (MT ex-Delhi)

Bell Jet Ranger (H); 3 or 4 seater(IIA)

Piper Chieftain (A); 8-seater(IIA & MT ex-Delhi)

Piper Navajo (A); 5-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Viator (A); 8-seater(MT ex-Calcutta)

Rs 32,500 C-90 (A); 6-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 35,000 Dormier 228 (A); 17-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

C-90 A (A); 6-seater (MT ex-Delhi)

Bell 206 L4 (H); 6-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Ecureuil AS-350 BA(H);5-seater(MT ex-Delhi and ex- Bhubneswar)

Rs 45,000 L-410 (A); 17-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

C-90 (A); 5/8 seater(MT ex-Delhi/Chennai)

Ecureuil AS 350 BA(H); 5-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 50,000 Bell 222 U (H); 6-seater(IIA and MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 55,000 C-90 A (A); 8-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Ecureuil AS 355 N (H); 5-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Ecureuil AS 355 (H); 4-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 60,000 King Air 200 (A); 8-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 65,000 Dauphin SA 365 N(H); 11-seater(PH)

Cessna Citation II (EJ);7-seater(IIA & MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 70,000 King Air 350 (A); 8-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 75,000 HS-125 (EJ); 7-seater(IIA and MT ex-Delhi)

Dauphin (H); 10-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 85,000 Cessna Citation II (EJ); 7-seater(MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 90,000 BAe 125-700 B (EJ); 9-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

Rs 1,00,000 MI-172(H); 26-seater(PH and MT ex-Mumbai)

F-27 (A); 50-seater(MT ex-Delhi)

BAe 125-800 (EJ); 8-seater(MT ex-Calcutta)

Rs 1,15,000 HS 125-700 (EJ); 8-seater (MT ex-Mumbai)

Rs 1,65,000 F-27 (A); 49 seater(MT ex-Chennai)