Nine airlines seek fleet expansion

In a sign of recovery in the aviation sector, nine private airlines have obtained government permission for expansion of their fleet by importing 49 aircraft for scheduled air transport services since August last year. This permission is valid for one year. The private airlines which have been granted permission include Jet Airways (13), JetLite (2), Spice Jet (7), Zav Airways (3), Deccan Cargo (8), Aryan Cargo (2), Go Airlines (2), Jagson (2) and IndiGo (10). The government has also granted “in-principle approval” for import of 375 aircraft for scheduled operations. These aircraft have to be imported by 2025, the civil aviation minister, Mr. Praful Patel, said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. Replying to another question on licensing of airports, he said there are about 53 operational airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI), out of which 47 airports are used for scheduled or regular flight operations. “There are five airports of AAI which have obtained licence from DGCA. There are nine licensed airports belonging to joint venture companies (JVCs), state governments and others, out of which six are being used for scheduled flight operations,” he said. The minister said before 2004, aerodromes belonging to AAI or government were exempted from licensing requirement as these were in operation as per ICAO regulations and guidelines. “Amendment (Aircraft Rules) 2004, made licensing mandatory for all the airports, including AAI or government, however, these are allowed to operate until they obtain licences,” Mr. Patel said. The provision in amended aircraft rules had the requirement of obtaining the licence for existing operational aerodromes by the date notified in this regard. The said date had been extended from time to time as the licensing procedure is lengthy and took time, he said.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).