Take-off troubles for charter flights as cash turns costly

Private jet operators are feeling the heat of the government’s demonetisation move. Bookings are down and flights are being cancelled with no cash to make payments.

With the peak year-end season just a fortnight away when charter bookings for destinations like Goa are at an all-time high, private jet operators are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that the situation will improve soon.

“The impact is not just because the demand is down but because of our own compulsions. We need to pay in cash. A number of payments are done in cash by charter operators,” said Jayant Nadkarni, president, Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA), an association of private jet operators.

The dip in bookings is in singledigits, he added.

“We are definitely worried with the peak year-end season approaching. The situation is bad. We may be business aviation, which means the owners of the aircraft are rich industrialists and rich companies, but they also have pressures. We are losing business because flights have been cancelled. There have been cases where we have stopped flying, where the aircraft hasn’t gone through because of operational issues because we don’t have the imprest money.”

A number of payments like the landing and parking charges at airports and payments to ground handlers are done only in cash. “I don’t have cash for that,” Nadkarni said.

Payments for fuel, however, can be made online.

“The government is seized about this (problem) and hopefully we will see a change. The situation cannot continue like this. The problem will continue if cash availability doesn’t become okay or if the agencies don’t start accepting online payments,” he said.

Figures for losses suffered by charter operators were still being collated, he added.