Civil Aviation

Year 2007-08 has seen unprecendented growth in the field of aviation sector. India ranked 9th during the year 2007-08 in world aviation market while in 2006 it ranked 12th. In the mean airline business has increased by 27 percent. This growth can be attributed to the policy of liberalisation in both sectorsdomestic and international. Year 2007 has seen an increase of 32.51 percent in domestic airlines air traffic. Now scheduled domestic flights are available from 82 airports in comparison to 75 airports during the year 2006.

The Government has ended the monopoly of Indian Airlines and Air India on the scheduled operations by repealing the Air Corporation Act, 1953.

MERGER OF AIR INDIA AND INDIAN AIRLINES
On 30 March, 2007 a new company National Aviation Company Of India Ltd has been formed by merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. Its headquarter is based in Mumbai. The brand name of new airlines is Air India and its logo is Maharaja.

AIR SERVICES
As on 30 June, 2006, India has bilateral Air Services Agreement with 101 countries. A revised Liberalised agreement have also been concluded with some important traffic markets like UK, China, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, Singapore, Newzeland, UAE, Thailand, Russia and France.

ERSTWHILE AIR INDIA
Erstwhile Air India owns a fleet of 23 Aircraft consisting of six B747-400, two A310-cargo, two B-747-300, four B777-200LR, three B777-300ER and six A310- 300. In addition, Air India has inducted eight A310-300, two B747-400, four B777-200ER, and two B767-300ER on day lease basis, taking the total no of aircraft in Air India's fleet to 39. Air India operates 173 flights per week serving 59 stations (45 international and 14 domestic), Air India also has code-share agreements with 12 airlines to offer its passengers more destinations and convenient connections.

ERSTWHILE INDIAN AIRLINES
The erstwhile Indian Airlines is the major domestic air carrier of the country. The Indian Airlines operates to 59 domestic stations along with its wholly owned subsidiary Airlines Allied Services Ltd. (Alliance Air). Besides, Indian Airlines also operates to 15 international stations. The Indian Airlines presently has a fleet of 91 aircraft comprising - 03 Airbus A-300s, 48 Airbus A 320s, 11 Airbus A - 319s, 11 Boeing 737s, 2 Airbus A-330, 6 Airbus A-321, 1 CRJ, 02 Dornier DO - 228 and 7 ATR - 42-320 leased. All B-737 and ATR aircraft are operated by Alliance Air.

PAWAN HANS HELICOPTERS LIMITED
The Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd. is one of India's leading helicopter companies and is known for its reliable helicopter operations. The company was incorporated in 1985 with the objective of providing helicopter services to the petroleum sector, linking inaccessible areas of the country and operating charter for promotion of tourism. It has well balanced fleet of 36 helicopters consisting of Bell 206L4, Bell 407, Dauphin SA 365 N, Dauphin AS 365 N3 And Mi- 172.