Political parties will soon join the aam aadmi in complaining about rising airfares.
With elections to five States slated for this year and the general elections due before May 2014, the cost of transporting leaders by private planes and helicopters will soar, partly because of a supply-demand mismatch and partly because of the depreciating rupee.
The cost of chartering an aircraft or helicopter can rise 15-23 per cent during the forthcoming elections say industry watchers.
Political parties’ transport bills are set to soar with extensive air travel unavoidable, especially for the star campaigners. State-owned Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd, the nation’s largest helicopter operator, has hiked charter rates by about 25 per cent since 2009, when the last general election took place. But the higher rate is only for its newly-inducted Dauphin N series. Parties hiring the Dauphin N copters will pay Rs 2.5 lakh a day and Rs 1.82 lakh an hour (for a minimum of three hours) against the Rs 2 lakh/day and Rs 1.46 lakhan hour they were paying earlier. Topping this amount is a service tax. For single-engine Bell helicopters, the hike is marginal: about Rs 83,000 an hour from about Rs 80,000, industry watchers say.
Traditionally, all political parties have some star campaigners hopping from one constituency to another in private jets and helicopters.
For instance, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, or BJP top honchos Narendra Modi and L. K. Advaniare star campaigners for their parties.
The parties will foot their air bills. But lesser candidates wanting to take to the skies have to do so at their own expense. During the 2009 general elections, the Congress hired seven- eight machines from Pawan Hans. Some, such as Rohit Kapur, President, Business Aircraft Operators Association, say the cost of chartering aircraft for election purposes goes up 15-20 per cent mainly because of the demand-supply mismatch.
Debashis Saha, Member, Council, Aeronautical Society of India, feels the depreciating rupee will put pressure on charter rates, as not only has the price of aviation turbine fuel risen but the cost of spares, which are imported, will also go up.
Larger political parties form logistic cells that contract the aircraft and chart their leaders’ travel plans.
Political parties approach charter companies such as Indo-Pacific Aviation, EON Aviation, Global Vectra, Raymond and Pawan Hans.
Building inventories
Some charter companies even take aircraft and helicopters on lease from smaller outfits, build an inventory, and then lease these to political parties.
Industry sources say the per-hour ballpark rate for hiring a four/five-seater turbo-prop aircraft can go up to Rs 50,000. A six-seater jet costs Rs 1.15-1.25 lakh, a seven/eight-seater costs Rs 1.70-1.80 lakh, while a mid-size jet can set you back Rs 2.50-2.75 lakh.