In 1998 alone, the price of aviation gas with octane rating 100, used in piston-engine aircraft, was revised twice. On April 1, it was raised from Rs 14.60 per litre to Rs 21.30 per litre. The government raised it again to Rs 37.92 per litre on December 10.

This, in turn, forced AAA to raise its training fee for commercial pilot licence (CPL) trainees from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. As a result, 14 of the 40 trainees have decided to go to the US to get the licence.

Reacting to this, Shailesh Bhandari, managing director, AAA, said that the academy had lost Rs 84 lakh by losing the trainees. Besides, he said, if two students leave, AAA is deprived of buying one aircraft on which it can train 10 other students. Most important of all, the government will lose foreign exchange when the students go to the US for getting a licence, he said.

Bhandari said that as it is, 50 per cent of Indian pilots having CPL licence are trained abroad, particularly in the USA and United Kingdom (UK), even though the fee there is almost the same as in India. But, the bureaucratic hassles in these countries are less and tests are easier to pass which attract the students from India. Now, after the fee hike brought about by the flying clubs and academies, more and more number of students will leave India, he noted.

Most of the piston engine aircraft in India are used by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the flying clubs. The government imports approximately 40,000 tonnes of aviation gas every year, out of which 20,000 tonnes goes to the IAF and the rest to the flying clubs.

Bhandari said, ``Since the IAF aircraft are run by the exchequer, the force is not directly affected. Only flying clubs are left in the lurch as they have to pay for the increase in the price of gas every time. Just for the sake of promoting general aviation in the country, no flying club can venture into such a high cost area''.

He is of the view that instead of raising the price of aviation gas, the government should have increased the price of air turbine fuel used by international aircraft by just Rs 2 per 1,000 litres. Or the subsidy on kerosene and diesel should have been cut by just Re 1 per litre. The transportation cost of aviation gas should be combined with that of kerosene and diesel, which will also lower the price of the gas, he said.

Bhandari has written to the prime minister urging him to reduce the price of the gas to Rs 12 per litre in order to save general aviation in India from dying. Copies of the letter have been sent to the Home Minister, Petroleum Minister, Civil Aviation Minister and Director General of Civil Aviation.