Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (TAAL) is in Singapore for the first time to introduce itself to the Pan-Asian market. It has not done a bad job so far – having bought two Cessna business jets on Wednesday.
TAAL started trading in 1994 with a vision to create a nucleus from which aviation in India could develop, and to promote affordable general aviation in the country.
Says Salil Taneja, chairman: “Indian aviation is beginning to open up with a relaxation of the regulations. We have a good transparent regulatory system now and a great infrastructure with lots of small airfields. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been quite progressive in simplifying the rules for owner operators”.
TAAL collaborates with Italy’s Partenvia to manufacture the six seat twin piston-engine Vulcanair P68C aircraft and the eleven seat twin turbo-prop Viator aircraft. The company has also established a significant presence in many segments of the aviation market in India.
Its portfolio includes building aircraft, selling Vulcanair P68C and Cessna aircraft, charters and fractional ownership, fixed-base operations (FBO) services and consultancy. Taneja is expanding and will set up an aircraft maintenance facility for Airbus A320/Boeing 737 class of aircraft and is looking to upgrade all of its manufacturing facilities.
Headquartered in Bangalore, the company maintains three FBOs in India and its main problem is keeping up with its expansion. “Getting pilots is a problem for us”, says Taneja. ”We are recruiting foreign pilots from Australia and New Zealand”. However, the company is training its own engineers and currently has 30 in training.
Source: Flight Daily News
