Delhi : Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) are facing a tough period in the country with industry experts and the chiefs of FTOs claiming that an acute shortage of Aviation Gasoline (AVGAS) has led to the grounding of many aircrafts.
Industry experts talking to ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity said that "as many as 240-250 trainer aircrafts out of a total of 300 in the country are now grounded due to this acute shortage of aviation fuel and it has impacted the operations of these FTOs and that too at a time when the season is considered best for flying."
Harsh Vardhan Singh, President of Association of Flying Training Organisation (AFTO) told ETV that "The crisis is real and this has been going on for the past three-four weeks. FTOs are facing the heat of this fuel crisis which has led to the grounding of the aircrafts. As far as the number is concerned, out of a total of near about 280 as many as 240-245 are grounded due to this."
Similarly, when ETV tried to contact the FTOs regarding the crisis, the reply clarified that operations of them are heavily affected due to this fuel crisis and this is causing a real panic amongst students and the FTOs as the period between March - May is considered the best time for flying.
Captain Mamatha, CEO of Flytech Aviation Academy based in Hyderabad told this reporter that "For the last few years, we've been importing the fuel and Indian Oil has also been importing and later supplying to us. But two years back, it was announced that IOC will manufacture it locally in India and we all welcomed it.
The fact is that instead of buying from the international market, we all want to buy it from the IOC. But when we import it from the international market, we buy it at a price of 185-190/ litre while IOC which despite manufacturing it locally since November 2022 is giving us the same fuel to us at 230-245/litre. So, it is very disheartening for us to see this. Now the rumour is that IOC has been exporting oil to the international market and not to us (Indian market/National FTOs)."
"Everything should not be seen from the view of profit making", she added.
A senior official of the Alchemist Aviation, Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) said that "This has been going on for the last few weeks. Not just the Alchemist but FTOs across India have been affected. We have a total of 5 aircrafts and two of them have been grounded. In the coming days, as our fuel storage will get depleted the remaining three will also get grounded."
Similarly, an official at Ambitions Flying Club, Uttar Pradesh reaffirmed that "the fuel shortage is a real crisis and this has been going on for the last few weeks and we are also facing problems. This is not just related to our FTO but almost every flying school in India has been hit hard due to this."
When this reporter contacted a top official of the IOC, speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that "There are some logistical issues and this will be sorted out. This is just a temporary phase and in the coming days, all things will be sorted out. There's nothing to worry about."
Question posed to DGCA remained unanswered and will be updated as as soon as the reply will come.
It is pertinent to note here that in September 2022, IOC started manufacturing AVGAS 100LL to alleviate problems of unreliable supply to flying schools.
Since 2022, IOC has been reliably supplying Avgas to FTOs. Even though the price of IOC’s Avgas has been higher than international prices, its continuous supply has ensured that flying training in India is uninterrupted.
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