BAOA’s Journey from 2011 to 2021

By Group Captain Rajesh K. Bali (Retd) Managing Director Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA)

Business Aviation community, whilst witnessing tremendous growth during the time from 2005 to 2010, was also facing rough times with the government and the regulators. With the tough regulatory environment, cumbersome rules, discriminatory taxes/duties, and poor infrastructure, Business Aviation in India was in need of a common platform for the industry to let its voice be heard by the policy makers of the country.

At that time, there were two different representative bodies for the industry - Business Aircraft Association of India (BAAI) formed in 2004 and, a new association – Indraprastha Aircraft Aviation Association (IAAA) formed in 2010 with similar objective. With the aim of projecting a strong unified voice for the whole industry, BAAI and IAAA decided to merge and become one single association - a new association named - the Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA), with a total of 44 members representing most major players involved with Business Aviation in India. It was on March 31, 2011 that the two association formally merged and BAOA came into existence.

The last ten years of journey has been full of exciting challenges. Acceptance by the ministry and regulators, as the most credible representative body of the industry, has taken years of painstaking efforts by BAOA’s team led by members of the ‘governing board’. As being the first Secretary, and now Managing Director, I have to mention the unmatched contribution of our first President, Rohit Kapur, for his great vision and leadership qualities to put BAOA on firm footing from the beginning in 2011 to 2015, when he decided to step down after two consecutive tenures. The ‘founding’ members of ‘BAOA’s Governing Board’, too, played very significant roles in getting BAOA its rightful place in the Indian aviation industry. The last five years have seen BAOA gaining wider recognition of the aviation industry at the global level.

WE FEEL DETERMINED, MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, TO ENSURE OPTIMAL GROWTH OF GA/BA INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Presently, all the big OEMs of GA/BA industry, including Boeing Business Jets/Airbus Corporate Jets/Bombardier/Embraer/Gulfstream, are active members of BAOA. The membership base has grown further with, leasing companies like Bank of America, and Ground Handling Agencies/MROs also joining the BAOA family. During the last ten years, BAOA has actively engaged itself with International Business Aviation Council, which is an umbrella organisation of 17 BA/GA associations around the globe. In the domestic industry, BAOA has, all along, remained an integral part of ‘national aviation committees’ of reputed industry bodies like, FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, and PHD Chamber. BAOA is also ‘affiliate member’ and collaborates with ‘Air Charter Association of Europe’ and ‘Rotary Wing Society of India’.

There have been many crucial and important issues of the ‘Business Aviation’ industry taken up and progressed with regulatory authorities during these ten years of journey. Some significant regulatory issues have been - ‘removing age bar for import of aircraft for aerial work’, ‘abolishing of YA number requirement for foreign flight of BA/GA aircraft’ and ‘separate and proportionate regulatory framework for smaller aircraft of GA/BA industry’. At the level of ministry, issues like – ‘rationalising restrictions on operations of foreign GA/BA aircraft in India’, ‘dissolution of aircraft acquisition committee of MoCA’ and ‘RBI’s unambiguous directive on advance remittance for import of smaller GA/BA aircraft’, have been addressed through BAOA’s efforts. BAOA has also been focused on rationalising aeronautical tariff for NSOP/GA industry, along with waiver of unfair and unjustified royalties, especially on ‘Ground Handling charges’ and ‘maintenance hangar rentals’. Recently, the ‘Fuel Throughput Charges’, charged hither to as royalty on ATF, has been discontinued due to these ongoing efforts of BAOA.

On the eve of completing ten years of BAOA’s journey, we feel more determined, than ever before, to ensure optimal growth of GA/BA industry in the fast-paced Indian economy to hasten the goal of achieving self-reliance and to help the march towards becoming a developed nation, having a robust BA/GA industry, like all other developed economies.