'Drop colonial call signs for aircraft'

Shred the 'colonial' call sign used for registration of aircraft owned by Indian Airlines, a Parliamentary panel said.

The aircraft owned by domestic airlines are registered with initials VT, which stands for 'Viceroy's Territory' and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture wanted a change in it.

Officials said India had in 1947 retained 'VT' initials used by British rulers while Pakistan adopted the initials 'AP' from the newly allocated call signs APA-ASZ.

Since 1929

This registration prefix was assigned to India in the year 1929 and continued ever since.

In its report on Demands for Grants for 2016-17, the panel headed by Trinamool Congress MP K D Singh said the Indian civil aviation sector has grown stupendously and that it can be compared to any other developed nation.

"The committee also feels that it is high time to set aside the sign of a colonial past and acquire a new call sign which appropriately denotes the Indian civil aviation sector," the report said. The call sign is an aircraft registration which is a unique alpha-numeric code that identifies a civil aircraft in civil aviation to a licensed plate on an automobile in accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

Certification

According to the Convention, aircraft must be registered with a proof of this registration in the form of a legal document called a certificate of registration at all times when in operation.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in consultation with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) assigns the Call Sign registration to every country based on the annexure to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

Call Signs

* India -- VT
* China -- C
* Pakistan -- AP
* Afghanistan -- YA
* Bangladesh -- S2
* Sri Lanka -- 4R
* Nepal -- 9N
* Bhutan -- A5
* Germany -- D
* United States -- N
* United Kingdom -- G