Air Kerala hopes soar with new NDA regime

Kochi: With the new government in place at the Centre and the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi having named Telugu Desam Party’s Ashok Gajapathi Raju as the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Kerala is now looking up for favourable signals from the dispensation for taking off its dream Air Kerala project.

Aviation circles exude confidence in this regard since Modi Government is already known for its pro-growth-oriented outlook and not attaching strings to any sector. At present airline companies registered in India only are discriminated against in the case of flying abroad while foreign airliners without any experience are allowed to fly in and out.

Civil Aviation Minister in the previous dispensation Ajith Singh had spoke about lifting the contentious 5/20 clause that has been working against Indian companies including Air Kerala from operating foreign flights. As per this clause an Indian airline must complete five years in domestic service and should have a fleet of at least 20 planes before it is allowed to fly abroad.

However the Manmohan Singh dispensation did not take any formal decision in this regard which has now put the ball in the court of the Narendra Modi Government.

“Interestingly Malinda Airlines from Malaysia which has just one year’s experience is now operating to Cochin international airport. Air Arabia operated its international flight to Kerala in the year of its inception itself. So there is no justification in holding on to our law in the international scene,” said a top aviation official.

He said that this is in stark contrast against the policy being pursued by nations like China which are giving even subsidies to airline companies.

“China also does not have the 5/20 stipulation and encourages more people to fly. Only 1 percent of our population presently flies and it’s high time we scale up it by promoting more budget airlines. Just one percent increase can make tremendous impact,” he said.

CIAL managing director and Air Kerala director V J Kurien said the new government’s policy decision was keenly awaited.