Business Aircraft Ops to India: Fuelling & Security

When you operate to India, fuelling, security and ground handling are generally reliable, on time, and economical at most larger airports.

At smaller airfields, however, you may’ve access to just a single fuel supplier. An advance arrangement of uplift and fuel credit often becomes a most essential consideration.

The following is a summary of what you need to know:

1.      Fuel uplifts:

Most of the airports in India avail fuel by fuel trucks.

On the other hand smaller airfields have fuel trucks available during airport operation hours.

2.      Fuel vendor options:

Major airports of entry in India generally have 3 different fuel suppliers available on the field.

On the other hand smaller airports have two and in some cases one fuelling option.

3.      Fuel pricing and credit:

 Prices are based per litre and normally adjusted after every fifteen days. The price you pay will be the cost of fuel with additional taxes.

Accepted forms of payment include fuel carnets and you need to show your fueling card.

Note that consumer credit cards aren’t accepted for fuel payment in India.

Your ground handler may extend credit for fuel uplift only if he or she has made a pre-payment to the fuel supplier in advance.

4.      Fuel tax considerations:

If you plan to make more than one stop in India, be aware that you will be charged tax on fuel upon arrival.

 Customs will send an agent to your aircraft to know volume of fuel onboard. This way they can calculate due taxes accordingly.

 When you make more than one stop in India, then in that case you need to land with minimum fuel.

Note that theses fuel taxes don’t apply when you make just one stop for either destination in India. 

5.      Storage, testing, & fuel delivery:

Fuel is stored in underground tanks and in fuel farms for fuelling purposes at smaller airports.

Prior to each fuel delivery, the fueler tests the fuel and they provide the fuel quality check to the crew.

Note that at larger airports there’re specific ramp areas where fuel is available. For example at New Delhi Airport, this option is available.

At smaller airfields, fuel trucks will come out to your aircraft. In this aspect, airport ground handling companies play a very significant role.

6.      VVIP fuel considerations:

Special fuel arrangements are made in the case of VVIP flights, for example those of a prime minister, president, or king.

Fuel can be tested in advance, and the tanks can be sealed until time of fuel uplift.

If you are operating a very important flight, then it’s become important that the ground handling company & the airport police should aware of these arrangements.

7.      Airport security in India:

Airports in India maintain adequate levels of security. Also security has been considerably increased over the past few years.

All airports in India have adequate perimeter fencing with proper airside access controls.

8.      Security screening:

Upon arrival in India, crew members & passengers should go through metal detector screening while luggage is screened via X-ray.

A similar security screening process takes place during pre-departure.

Conclusion:

Fuel arrangements are made available in most airports in the country, and services are therefore becoming more efficient.

This reduces turnaround time for your flight. Ground handling service provider companies in India play a very important role in these aspects.

About Author:

At vision Aviation Global, Our professional staffs offer a complete service package to meet each client’s specific requirements and needs at all airports.

We provide complete Airport ground handling services in India through authorized ground handlers.

What’re the Route Planning Considerations for Overflight & Tempory Landing Permits?

When you plan to submit routing for overflight and tempory landing permit requests, then there’re several things that you need to consider.

The following is an overview of what you need to know:

1.      Routes and/ or FIRs( flight region information) is mandatory for some overflight and landing permits:

In many regions of the world, while requesting overflight and landing permits, routing and Flight information needs to be submitted.

Some of the countries requiring routings for overflight requests include Myanmar, North and South Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, and many other countries in Africa.

2.      Provide adequate permit lead time when routings are required:

Lead time for overflight permits is typically 3 to 5 business days, while five to ten days lead time is often required for landing permits.

Prior to committing yourself to a planned itinerary, you always need to confirm lead time requirements and lead times for schedule revisions.

3.      Random routes shouldn’t be used on permit requests:

In many cases random routes won’t give you the best flight information, and may add additional time to your schedule.

Also, you may find that you get permits that is not required if a random route is not utilized.

Also, you don’t need to discover on the day of operation that the routes you used for permit requests aren’t being accepted by Air Traffic Control (ATC).

4.      Be sure to identify all FIRs(flight region information) when required to do so:

Certain countries are particular on routes/FIRs placed in your permit request while others are more flexible.

For example Chinese authorities may often request you to change a route if they don’t accept the one you have chosen.

5.      Flight routes should not be built too far in advance:

When you use a particular route for a permit request, it is best you have built the route no more than six months in advance.

6.      Consider running test flight plans close to day of operation:

Running test flight plans prior to your operation is good practice because it gives you a chance to re-check the route to make sure it’s useable.

7.      Be careful particularly with routings when more than one country is overflown:

Air traffic control authorities may refuse you to entry into their airspace if you are using a route that is not approved by their Civil Aviation Authority.

So you need to be careful with routings.

8.      Some countries may change your proposed routing, which may affect your other permits:

Best practice is to always check in advance to confirm routes and FIRs approved by the concerned Civil Aviation Authority and to not deviate from those plans.

9.      Having a backup route ready can improve your option:

When you request a permit on short notice, a backup routing is always helpful.

Conclusion:

Whenever you submit a permit request, it becomes necessary to call the recipient and confirm if he or she has received it or not.

If you find out that your permit request was never received, then it’s too late to secure the necessary permit.

About Author:

Vision Aviation Global is an authorised company for filing and obtaining temporary landing permit in India. We are based in Delhi and file & obtain permits in the shortest possible time frames.

We also assist and facilitate issuance of visas & temporary landing permits and give assistance for Immigration and Custom clearance.