India to Ease Restrictions on Aviation Rules

Thursday, 23rd January 2014 at 08:35am

The commercial aviation in India will soon get a boost with the lifting of restrictions imposed against local airlines wanting to fly to international destinations.

The aviation ministry has come to its decision to remove restrictions in commercial aviation law that prohibits local airlines to open international routes unless they have, at least, five years in commercial operations and a fleet of no less than 20 aircraft.

Minister Ajit Singh announced Tuesday that his office is seeking the scrapping of the decades-old rule, hopefully by February, that has been viewed as a hindrance to the country's aviation industry. He said that his Cabinet is already in the process of endorsing the letter to the government for immediate action on the abolition of the rules.

He further said that the Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, is very supportive of the move to abolish the rules during his visit to Washington, DC when asked about the issue.

The present aviation rules are disadvantageous to local airlines who want to expand their business beyond their turf. Interestingly enough, while foreign airlines can fly to India without regards to the number of fleet they keep at home, Indian airlines can't fly to international destinations if their fleet is inadequate or doesn't meet the 20-aircraft requirement.

The restrictions may have prevented the new start-up airlines, especially AirAsia India to launch their operations. AirAsia India, the joint venture between Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd and Tata Group, has postponed its inaugural operations since the middle of last year.

As soon as the restrictions are removed, AirAsia India and Tata-SIA Airlines are expected to launch their respective inaugural operations anytime this year.

AirAsia India was originally scheduled to start operations in the middle of last year but was postponed until December. But then, 2013 has passed without seeing the airline taking off.

The proposed Tata-SIA Airlines, another Tata airline venture with Singapore Airlines, is set to benefit from the new ruling when it starts to operate within the year.

The low-cost carrier, Go Air, will be the first Indian airline to benefit from the new regulation. The airline, founded in 2005, has long been planning to fly outside India but was unable to meet the 20-aircraft requirement. It currently has 17 planes in its fleet flying to 21 destinations across the country.

According to Go Air CEO, Giorgio de Roni, the carrier is seeking the approval from the aviation ministry to waive the 5/20 rule in its favor so that they can start international operations soon without needing to wait for the abolition of the same. The airline is expected to take delivery of its 19th aircraft next month. It is also seeking approval from the government its proposal to let A380 jets to fly to India.

The said proposal would give way to big airlines operating in India to use their fleet of A380 to India. These include Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.

By: Pete Lee.