Pilot training schools run out of (Av)gas
Training of pilots at flying schools across the country has been hit over the last four weeks due to the nonavailability of certified aviation gasoline or Avgas.
While commercial aircraft rely on aviation turbine fuel, around 8090 per cent of the trainer aircraft in India use Avgas, which is produced by Indian Oil Corporation.
KEY REASON
IOC tests the product for its performance at an overseas laboratory. A delay in certification has held up the supplies. Flying schools, however, are not convinced by the refiner’s claims and fear that supply disruption could slow down pilot production.
“For the past month, Avgas supply is around a tenth of our requirement. Consequently, our flying has declined to 1020 per cent of the normal. In fact, on Saturday, we gave a day off to conserve the limited stock. AprilMay is a fair weather season across the country. If the disruption continues for longer, students would be badly hit as flying halves during the mon
Around 8090% of the trainer aircraft in India use Avgas, which is produced by IOC
soon months,” said Jati Dhillon, Managing Director of Government Aviation Training Institute, Odisha.
“Any shortage of Avgas, regardless of the reason, will ultimately impact the airline industry and, therefore, the populace of our country and the policies of the Indian government,” the president of Association of Flight Training Organisations HVP Singh said. The association has sought Civil Aviation Ministry’s intervention and suspects that the supply shortage was caused by exports. An IOC executive denied this and said the company always meets domestic demand first before exporting products.
Before September 2022, all the Avgas consumed in the country was imported from Europe. IOC began producing it from its Vadodara refinery as a part of an initiative to reduce dependence on imports. Local production is now taking care of domestic requirements.
“There are around 220 trainer aircraft with flying schools across the country and nearly 8090 per cent of them run on Avgas. While some larger schools keep buffer stocks, even those would be close to exhaustion. Thus, the impact of supply disruption will be felt across the board,” said Hemanth DP, CEO of Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy.
34 TRAINING SCHOOLS
There are 34 DGCAapproved flying training schools in the country operating at 55 bases. Last year, the DGCA issued a record 1,562 commercial pilot licences to domestically trained pilots and those trained overseas.
In a statement, IOC said there is no disruption in Avgas production. “Before supplying it to our customers, one final test is done in a foreign laboratory. We are awaiting the certification report. We expect to receive it in the coming week. We have sufficient stock in our refinery and normal supplies can resume immediately once we receive the certification,” IOC said.