New civil aviation policy likely by May 15

New Delhi: A new civil aviation policy that is expected to focus on developing six metro airports as international hubs and also address several key issues is likely to be unveiled by the Government before May 15. New norms for overseas operations by domestic carriers are also expected to be part of the much-awaited policy. "We strive to put in place the new aviation policy before May 15," said Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma on the sidelines of an event.

The Centre had in November last unveiled the Draft Civil Aviation Policy and circulated it among all stakeholders. The draft policy proposes to enhance regional air connectivity, develop six major metro airports as international hubs, create more airports through PPP mode, rationalise jet fuel cost, promote air cargo, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) and helicopter operations, and improve passenger facilitation.

The six metropolitan airports-Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are planned to be developed into major international hubs both in terms of aircraft and passenger movement. "We propose to bring the new policy only after we discuss with all the stakeholders because the policy has several issues like the '5/20 Rule', the route dispersal guidelines and also the inter-connectivity," Sharma said.

As part of the draft policy, the government plans to revise a rule which require local airlines to have at least five-year operational experience and a fleet of 20 aircraft (popularly known as '5/20 Rule') to fly overseas to address the imbalance between domestic and foreign carriers.

Pitching for a liberal policy on the issue, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had last week said that such rules (5/20) need to be done away with."I have not seen such rules anywhere in the world. Such rules are pushing back this sector as well as the economy. The centre government's job is to promote Indian carriers. Thus, this rule has to go," the minister had said. According to an official, the Civil Aviation Ministry has already circulated the proposed norms for overseas operations by Indian airlines for inter-ministerial consultations.

"The ministry has sent its proposed revised norms for the domestic carriers wishing to fly abroad for inter-ministerial consultations, before sending it to the Cabinet for approval," the official said. Sharma, however, said since the policy deals with several important issues including new norms for international operations by domestic carriers and regional connectivity, widespread consultations with all stakeholders are necessary.

As per the proposed policy, an airline can apply for an international flying permit to destinations which are of more than six hours duration after it accrued 300 domestic flying credits (DFCs). Similarly, a domestic carrier can fly on routes which are less than six hours, only after it has accumulated 600 DFCs. These routes include lucrative airports like Dubai and Singapore. The credits would be calculated on the basis of revenue per passenger kilometer flown by an airline in a year.