NEW DELHI: There are many reasons for Indian airlines, a
perpetually struggling lot, to be hopeful: more foreign funding, more
overseas routes and cheaper oil. Yet, more than all this, what could embellish
the bottom
line of Indian carriers next year is a new navigation system in Indian skies that, its makers say,
will knock off 20% of the fuel bill of airlines and increase air traffic.
The effect can be potent as fuel costs swallow about 50% of an airline's revenues. At 20% savings, a crude calculation on 2011-12 numbers shows that Jet AirwaysBSE 0.96 %would have turned a Rs 1,236 crore loss into a Rs 90 crore profit, and SpiceJetBSE 0.81 % would have shaved off Rs 439 crore of its Rs 605 crore loss. And if KingfisherBSE -4.91 %hadn't since gone into a freefall, even it would have knocked off Rs 589 crore of its Rs 651 crore loss for the year.
Here's how. Today, when an aircraft takes off in Indian skies, it doesn't trace a straight vertical line to a cruising height. It, instead, rises in fits and starts, with bursts of acceleration. Likewise, between two destinations, it doesn't trace the straight line -- the shortest distance. It, instead, zigs and zags.
Both manoeuvres mean airlines end up burning more fuel than ideal because current Indian air-navigation systems don't allow for the greater accuracy and surety available in some other parts of the world. This is set to change in July, 2013, when the Airports Authority of India(AAI) launches GPS-aided GEO augmented navigation system (GAGAN). "Airlines can save 20% on their fuel costs," reckons S Sundara Raman, executive director (communication, navigation & surveillance), AAI.
The effect can be potent as fuel costs swallow about 50% of an airline's revenues. At 20% savings, a crude calculation on 2011-12 numbers shows that Jet AirwaysBSE 0.96 %would have turned a Rs 1,236 crore loss into a Rs 90 crore profit, and SpiceJetBSE 0.81 % would have shaved off Rs 439 crore of its Rs 605 crore loss. And if KingfisherBSE -4.91 %hadn't since gone into a freefall, even it would have knocked off Rs 589 crore of its Rs 651 crore loss for the year.
Here's how. Today, when an aircraft takes off in Indian skies, it doesn't trace a straight vertical line to a cruising height. It, instead, rises in fits and starts, with bursts of acceleration. Likewise, between two destinations, it doesn't trace the straight line -- the shortest distance. It, instead, zigs and zags.
Both manoeuvres mean airlines end up burning more fuel than ideal because current Indian air-navigation systems don't allow for the greater accuracy and surety available in some other parts of the world. This is set to change in July, 2013, when the Airports Authority of India(AAI) launches GPS-aided GEO augmented navigation system (GAGAN). "Airlines can save 20% on their fuel costs," reckons S Sundara Raman, executive director (communication, navigation & surveillance), AAI.
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