“We are proud of our reputation for excellence within the industry and look forward to continuing to play an active and positive role in the development of India’s vibrant aviation sector”
Chairman’s Note
CAPA is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2010, which also marks 7 successful years of our South Asian practice. During this time we have seen the Indian aviation industry transformed beyond recognition.
When we opened the doors of our New Delhi office, there were only four airlines in the country, annual domestic and international traffic had both just crossed 14 million passengers and a government committee would shortly declare that India's airport gateways were "for the most part an embarrasment". How times have changed.
Today, the number of airlines has increased to ten, carrying more than three times as many domestic passengers and twice as many international, some of these carriers are ranked amongst the best in the world when it comes to service quality. The low cost airline model had not even arrived in India when we opened our office, yet today it accounts for close to 70% of domestic operations. And world class airports can now be seen in a number of cities, several of them under a very successful public-private partnership model, which itself was unthinkable back in 2003.
Much still remains to be done. After recent market turbulence airlines need to focus on restoring viability to their business models; further reform is required in areas such as foreign direct investent and taxation; huge investment in education and training is critical to support projected growth; and upgrading airports and airspace across a larger number of cities will be a continuing requirement. But this should not take away from the fact that the achievements of the last seven years have been dramatic. Much of the recent activity has been related to scheduled passenger airlines, but going forward we also see significant new opportunities in areas such as as general aviation, freight, regional airlines and aerospace.
For an industry undergoing such transformational change we believe that sound advice, based on extensive research and analysis, is critical. This is CAPA's strength. We understand the local and international environments, we interact with the industry on a continuous basis and we monitor trends across every segment of the value chain. We are honoured to have worked with some of the leading names in global aviation and to have played a positive role in contributing to the development of the industry in India.
CAPA is of the opinion that knowledge is central to success in all spheres of aviation. It is for this reason that we have invested so significantly in the CAPA AeroPark project, designed to be a world class aviation education and training project to equip current and future generations with the skills to create a safe, efficient, professional and sustainable aviation industry.
Thank you for visiting our website. We hope that it provides you with an insight into the diverse range of CAPA India’s activities and we look forward to the opportunity to assist you.
Peter Harbison
Chairman