Hadid International Services local entity, HADID India marks its 10-year anniversary. Since its establishment in 2010, HADID India has superseded expectations in the provision of aviation support services and enabled its clients to achieve successful operations throughout the region and beyond. HADID India has witnessed significant change and in this time, learnt new values from clients, suppliers and staff in the region.

Since opening its first office in New Delhi, at a time in which HADID India focused on providing Flight Planning, Ground Handling and Aircraft Fuelling to non-scheduled aircraft operators, HADID India has widened its service offering. Today, HADID India offers a full suite of support services, in addition to the aforementioned, to all flight types and categories. These services include Flight Permits, Aircraft Charter, Navigation Fee Support, Governmental Flight Support and Concierge. What began as a team of less than five has now grown to a highly experienced, resourceful team of aviation experts on-ground.

Over the last decade, India’s aviation industry has enjoyed tremendous growth despite a myriad of challenges. The industry has shown positive growth in recent years, particularly in the domestic market segment. More people have been travelling thanks to a widening of the middle class and an increase in overall discretionary income. Until early 2020, a testing year for global aviation, passenger volume had grown by over 300 percent for domestic traffic and over 200 percent for international traffic. In this decade, HADID India has committed to focusing on expanding its presence across strategic destinations and on the delivery of reliable services whilst expanding its network of trusted suppliers and partners to meet the new and increased demand.

As HADID India has grown from strength to strength along with its business relationships on the Indian subcontinent, HADID teams across the business have benefitted technically and operationally from the complexities inherent in this region. Furthermore, our global teams have gained invaluable experience working alongside colleagues in an ever-changing environment and fast-paced society, which is guided by the shared values of its people and respect of hierarchy. Sharing these values has been instrumental in HADID India being successful in engaging a diverse client base which includes commercial airlines, private operators, business leaders, heads of state, government agencies and non-governmental organisations.

Prior to the pandemic, the aviation industry in India was bearing huge growth opportunities with continuous double-digit growth year-on-year. According to IATA, the air transport market in India employed more than 400,000 people and supported over 940,000 more in the supply chain in 2019. Overall, the industry was contributing some USD 35 billion annually to GDP. The fundamental drivers of air passenger demand such as increase in incomes, population and demographics, were “favourable and supportive of ongoing growth over the longer-term”.

Local authorities have been swift in their response to the pandemic, facilitating service providers such as HADID India to successfully serve MEDEVAC, Repatriation, Cargo and Diplomatic missions throughout the course of the pandemic. Leveraging on its presence in key destinations and its robust network, HADID India has been able to provide round-the-clock support in the form of re-planning, re-routings, up-to-the-minute operational updates and weather briefings on the subcontinent.

Despite the challenges posed by the on-going pandemic, the aviation industry appears to be on the rebound. Current statistical data indicates Covid-19 infection rates are currently falling in India, in part thanks to the swift action of the authorities early on and the widespread adherence to safe practices. The uninterrupted critical cargo operations combined the recommencement of commercial aviation activities signal what many predict will be a strong rebound.

In support of the notion that a rebound is underway, the Civil Aviation Minister of India, Hardeep Singh Puri, stated “air cargo data across the country has shown multiple green shoots” and further remarked that the international air cargo handled in India during October 2020 was 90 percent of the air cargo handled in the same period the year before.

Encouragingly, commercial operators have recorded higher loads on the back of an increase in travel during the recent Diwali season. So too, HADID India has noted an upswing in activity from October onwards in response to more permissible domestic flights and substantially higher passenger numbers. Both Commercial and Business Aviation in India will emerge stronger post-pandemic, but it is a long road ahead which has already changed many aspects of flying as we know it.