Even as India’s airlines waver about whether to adopt Gagan, the nation’s indigenous Waas-like navigation system for domestic airspace, the general aviation industry is likely to embrace the system once modalities on validation and certification are agreed. That was the takeaway from the first meeting among the Airports Authority of India (AAI), OEMs and members of the Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) held in September.

The AAI is developing procedures to enable Gagan at 63 medium and small airports. Further, an independent directorate within the AAI for Communication, Navigation & Surveillance (CNS) is being proposed to ensure Gagan be given “a focus and priority.”

“It is a good beginning,” said R.K. Bali, BAOA managing director. “Since airlines already have their systems in place and use only 20 percent of existing larger airports, the business aviation industry will find this useful given that the new civil aviation policy focuses on regional and remote connectivity.” He added that Gagan “will support more direct air routes, reduce separation standards, cut fuel consumption and improve safety for business aircraft.”

Gagan reduces dependency on ground-based infrastructure by using the precision and accuracy provided by satellite technologies. In fact, an operator with a Gagan-capable receiver can benefit from the same level of performance regardless of the coverage area. For a suitably certified aircraft, Gagan can provide approach procedures to runway ends to minimums as low as 250 feet, nearly the same performance as a Category I ILS.

To derive the maximum benefit from end route and approach guidance would require operators to equip all aircraft with global navigation satellite system (GNSS) avionics. With charter operators encouraged to start regional and remote operations, the key will be to minimize operating costs, without which small charters will be unable to survive, said Bali. “We are hoping in our future discussions with OEMs that they will be able to modify existing software to keep costs low.” Another incentive to equip for Gagan, he added, are waivers of parking charges at alternative airports. “However, in all this there must be complete hand-holding by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as far as validation and certification goes,” He said, alluding to the fact that in the past general aviation has often been hamstrung by bureaucratic procedures and red tape.

The AAI and Indian Space Research Organization officially launched Gagan this year. Two satellites (GSAT-8 and GSAT-10) in geostationary earth orbit are broadcasting signals for the Indian Flight Information Region, augmenting the performance of GPS signals received in Indian airspace.

According to consultancy RNMarket Research, China and India dominate the business jet market in Asia. Analysts predict that in the next decade India will emerge as the third largest aviation market by 2020. However, the nation’s business aviation sector holds a more qualified view, tying growth to industry-friendly regulations. Rohit Kapur, BAOA founder and former president, pointed out that the industry contracted in the past three years. However, he believes “business sentiment will pick up once companies start to get the ‘feel-good factor.’”

Bali is confident once measures to improve infrastructure are implemented and taxes reduced, the industry will grow in line with projections. “However, for that we will need to be prepared, and adopting Gagan is an important step.”