While Kingfisher formally closed shop with its flying licence suspended in January leaving many of its unpaid employees in the lurch, the industry saw some signs of improvement in other carriers' financial bottomlines, though most of them still suffered heavy losses.
No-frill carrier IndiGo was the only carrier which defied market dynamics to announce a hefty profit of over Rs 900 crore.
Tenures of officials holding crucial positions in the Civil Aviation Ministry came to an end this year, with the retirement of Secretary K N Srivastava and DGCA chief Arun Mishra being appointed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as its Asia-Pacific head.
A question mark also remained over the appointment of a new AAI Chairman, with incumbent V P Agrawal's tenure ending this month.
The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) remained stabilised at a high level, accounting for 45-50 percent of Indian carriers' total costs, compared to 30 percent for major global airlines.
The Civil Aviation Ministry stepped in to urge all state governments to lower the taxes on ATF by arguing that lesser the price of fuel, more flights get attracted to the states and therefore, more economic activity and job creation which would be beneficial for the states.
The argument had its impact and some states like Odisha and West Bengal slashed taxes and experienced almost immediate promises by airlines to enhance the number of flights being operated to these states.
Giving a big boost to air connectivity in Tier-II and III cities, government cleared a wide-ranging policy aimed at creating international and regional aviation hubs in the country. An Inter-Ministerial Committee was also set up to ensure establishment of facilities like immigration, customs, provisions for visa-on-arrival and foreign exchange, involving various Ministries.
Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director of Bird Group and CII's aviation panel chairman, said that the Indian aviation industry has felt the brunt of aggressive price cuts, rising costs, growing jet fuel price, depreciating rupee value and high interest payment.
"In my opinion, improving the infrastructural constraints will bring down the high aviation cost and help stimulate overall growth of the industry," he said, adding that there was an urgent need for strong regional infrastructure which foreign airlines will look for before investing.
Another industry expert, Amber Dubey, head of consultancy firm KPMG's Aerospace and Defense division, said the new year would be marked by the launch or expansion of operations by Etihad, AirAsia, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Tiger Airways ? along with their Indian partners.
"We also expect one more FDI deal in an existing airlines... We also expect systemic reforms in the area of ATF and MRO taxes and in promotion of regional no-frills airports," he said.
