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RIP Gerry Rafferty, who passed away yesterday. One of your most famous songs comes to mind as Taiwan’s government gets into the business jet charter business. Last Saturday Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) flew from Taichung City to the coastal island of Kinmen in an Astra SP aircraft it imported in 2000. The company aims to run both domestic and international charters, flying to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Macau, Manila Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.
China is the big prize of course. In November the first privately owned Taiwanese charter company Win Air took delivery of a Gulfstream G550 in service. It too, is hoping the tense relations between the two governments will ease enough to allow private flights between the countries.
India
Meanwhile the burgeoning Indian aviation market upped the ante last week when Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd launched the first seaplane service to the Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar, using an amphibious Cessna 208B. The company will rely heavily on foreign pilots at start up stage, since, according to US news service Avweb http://www.avweb.com, to date there is only one Indian pilot who has flown the Caravan – and none have flown it on floats. A couple of American pilots will keep it island hopping while the company finds and trains locals to get their feet wet.
In a media event at Mumbai Airport, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said that tourism is growing and the market for seaplane service should grow. He said: “The Centre is permitting 100% foreign direct investment in this sector and service providers like PHHL should float a subsidiary to run a fleet of seaplanes. We want to see PHHL emerge as a 500-aircraft entity.”
My client ASA has been flat out for the last few weeks. They are aviation security experts who have been under huge demand for help.
The ASA Group, an Asian specialist VIP aviation security services provider with a base in Bangkok, reports that its phones are ‘ringing off the hook’ with requests for assistance from travellers and security companies concerned about the situation in Thailand. This week the group has moved people including families and exchange students away from troubled areas. Simon Wagstaff, ASA’s managing director said: “Many people are frightened about what is happening here. The situation is fluid and changes daily. It is important to stress that people want to move as much for convenience as for safety. Their daily lives are affected by the lack of facilities available.” It is difficult to enter and exit the hotspots, where shops are closed and utilities such as running water, electricity and Internet are intermittent if present at all.
Wagstaff adds: “We are warning our clients to stay away from the troubled areas. Some tourists have unwisely been going to the protest sites to gawk and take photographs. That is a bit like those people who get out of the car at a safari park to pet the ‘cuddly’ lions.” ASA is urging visitors to keep a close eye on the news, and make plans for an alternative means of getting out of the country if necessary. They should also ensure that they carry a phone number for a security specialist firm should trouble flare up suddenly.
Wagstaff says: “We are escorting people to and from the airport, since the troubled areas are constantly changing and we know where to avoid. If people are coming I would strongly recommend hiring a security firm that knows what it is doing.”
In recent months ASA has been called on several times to assist VIP passengers to leave the country, and helped corporate aircrews and passengers exit Thailand after demonstrators seized control of Bangkok’s International Suvarnabhumi airport. He added: “If any executive aviation travellers are worried about the situation in Thailand at the moment, they are welcome to call us. We give a daily update to an international security and intelligence newsletter, which is subscribed to by thousands of businesses and individuals worldwide, so we have up to the minute information.”
