<div>For the first time in the history of Indian civil aviation, a policy document covering all aspects of civil aviation has been approved by the Cabinet.<br /><br /> The Ministry of Civil aviation has gone through an extensive consultation process with all stakeholders and the policy is a positive move and will benefit the passenger, along with the anticipated growth.<br /><br />The National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, keeps in mind the passenger and paves the way for long-term growth of the sector. If the 2015-16 fiscal saw 80 million domestic passengers, the target is to touch 300 million by 2022. The vision is to have a long-term policy which will achieve domestic passenger traffic of 500 million by 2027 and international traffic of 200 million. The document also emphasises on safe, secure and affordable air travel in the years to come.<br /><br />The scrapping of 5/20 rule and making it a simple 0/20 is an excellent policy directive. This will enable Indian carriers – both low cost and full service airlines – to fly overseas and offer very competitive fares. This will also improve connectivity as most of the domestic airlines have a vast network across India. The domestic carriers will require wide-bodied aircraft to compete with the existing international carriers. This will make overseas travel affordable and simple as the connectivity issue will automatically get resolved. This will also enable passengers from all operating airports to fly overseas, and that too with less hassles.<br /><br />The Indian carriers will now be free to enter into code-share agreements with foreign carriers for any destination within India on a reciprocal basis. International code-share agreements between Indian and foreign carriers will also be completely liberalised, subject to air services agreement, which India has with 109 countries spread across the world.<br /><br />India has 132 airports supporting all operational facilities but the airlines are unable to fly to all the operating airports. If this is facilitated, it will lead to better connectivity, simply because they do not have sufficient load factors. Keeping this in mind, the government will promote the growth of scheduled commuter airlines (SCAs). The SCAs shall have aircraft with capacity of less than 100 seats. There will be no restrictions on the number of aircraft for operating an SCA but will only need to operate a minimum number of movements per week. This will enable activating several ghost airports which number to 25% of the operational airports, thus increasing connectivity.<br /><br />The best part of the policy is the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). It is gratifying to note that passengers flying from an airport which takes less than 30 minutes to reach can fly at a very reasonable cost of Rs 1,200, and for a flight of 60 minutes, the maximum airfare will be Rs 2,500. Both these fares are capped. The Central government will fund 80% of the airlines’ losses for making the RCS popular and practical. This will bring in a multiplier effect in the growth of air travel.<br /><br />The recent announcement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) allowing airlines to import aircraft which are around 18 years old, but with certain conditions, is a welcome sign for boosting RCS, and this will bring in several new players and open up opportunities for better connectivity in Tier II and III cities. <br /><br />The RCS is a highlight of the policy and will certainly enable large sections of the population to take to flying. To make the scheme a bigger success and a reality, the Centre must insist on the states to provide connectivity by road, as only then can passengers from remote areas find flying affordable, safe and convenient. The government deserves to be complimented for giving importance to RCS and for also offering several incentives to ensure that it becomes a success within 12 to 15 months.<br /><br />Single-window system<br /><br />The policy mandates that the DGCA create a single-window system for all aviation-related transactions, queries and complaints. It is important to ensure that the system works real-time and on a 24/7 basis, thus relieving passengers of their agony, distress and disillusionment whenever they encounter a difficulty. There is an urgent need to bring in this single-window system into operation on top priority.<br /><br />One of the most important factors that needs immediate attention is development of airport infrastructure across the country, especially the no-frills airports to ensure that traffic growth goes hand in hand with growth of infrastructure. The Centre must act in real quick time in creating new airports in all the metros as most of the existing airports are going to handle more passengers than what they are capable of right now with the existing facilities. <br /><br />This is particularly applicable to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The government must keep in mind the fact that land acquisition, bidding process, infrastructure creation and the time for real operations will take 5-7 years. A detailed study is required with regard to the top 25 airports and the expansion plan must be drawn up to the levels of anticipated passenger traffic growth.<br /><br />The FDI in aviation as announced recently, particularly with regard to greenfield and brownfield airports, is laudable. The Centre, in collaboration with states, must attract FDI in the airport sector on an urgent basis, as otherwise the targets laid down for passenger traffic cannot be achieved within the time frame mentioned in the policy. <br /><br /><em>(The writer is founder & national president, Air Passengers Association of India, Chennai)</em></div>
<div>For the first time in the history of Indian civil aviation, a policy document covering all aspects of civil aviation has been approved by the Cabinet.<br /><br /> The Ministry of Civil aviation has gone through an extensive consultation process with all stakeholders and the policy is a positive move and will benefit the passenger, along with the anticipated growth.<br /><br />The National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, keeps in mind the passenger and paves the way for long-term growth of the sector. If the 2015-16 fiscal saw 80 million domestic passengers, the target is to touch 300 million by 2022. The vision is to have a long-term policy which will achieve domestic passenger traffic of 500 million by 2027 and international traffic of 200 million. The document also emphasises on safe, secure and affordable air travel in the years to come.<br /><br />The scrapping of 5/20 rule and making it a simple 0/20 is an excellent policy directive. This will enable Indian carriers – both low cost and full service airlines – to fly overseas and offer very competitive fares. This will also improve connectivity as most of the domestic airlines have a vast network across India. The domestic carriers will require wide-bodied aircraft to compete with the existing international carriers. This will make overseas travel affordable and simple as the connectivity issue will automatically get resolved. This will also enable passengers from all operating airports to fly overseas, and that too with less hassles.<br /><br />The Indian carriers will now be free to enter into code-share agreements with foreign carriers for any destination within India on a reciprocal basis. International code-share agreements between Indian and foreign carriers will also be completely liberalised, subject to air services agreement, which India has with 109 countries spread across the world.<br /><br />India has 132 airports supporting all operational facilities but the airlines are unable to fly to all the operating airports. If this is facilitated, it will lead to better connectivity, simply because they do not have sufficient load factors. Keeping this in mind, the government will promote the growth of scheduled commuter airlines (SCAs). The SCAs shall have aircraft with capacity of less than 100 seats. There will be no restrictions on the number of aircraft for operating an SCA but will only need to operate a minimum number of movements per week. This will enable activating several ghost airports which number to 25% of the operational airports, thus increasing connectivity.<br /><br />The best part of the policy is the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). It is gratifying to note that passengers flying from an airport which takes less than 30 minutes to reach can fly at a very reasonable cost of Rs 1,200, and for a flight of 60 minutes, the maximum airfare will be Rs 2,500. Both these fares are capped. The Central government will fund 80% of the airlines’ losses for making the RCS popular and practical. This will bring in a multiplier effect in the growth of air travel.<br /><br />The recent announcement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) allowing airlines to import aircraft which are around 18 years old, but with certain conditions, is a welcome sign for boosting RCS, and this will bring in several new players and open up opportunities for better connectivity in Tier II and III cities. <br /><br />The RCS is a highlight of the policy and will certainly enable large sections of the population to take to flying. To make the scheme a bigger success and a reality, the Centre must insist on the states to provide connectivity by road, as only then can passengers from remote areas find flying affordable, safe and convenient. The government deserves to be complimented for giving importance to RCS and for also offering several incentives to ensure that it becomes a success within 12 to 15 months.<br /><br />Single-window system<br /><br />The policy mandates that the DGCA create a single-window system for all aviation-related transactions, queries and complaints. It is important to ensure that the system works real-time and on a 24/7 basis, thus relieving passengers of their agony, distress and disillusionment whenever they encounter a difficulty. There is an urgent need to bring in this single-window system into operation on top priority.<br /><br />One of the most important factors that needs immediate attention is development of airport infrastructure across the country, especially the no-frills airports to ensure that traffic growth goes hand in hand with growth of infrastructure. The Centre must act in real quick time in creating new airports in all the metros as most of the existing airports are going to handle more passengers than what they are capable of right now with the existing facilities. <br /><br />This is particularly applicable to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The government must keep in mind the fact that land acquisition, bidding process, infrastructure creation and the time for real operations will take 5-7 years. A detailed study is required with regard to the top 25 airports and the expansion plan must be drawn up to the levels of anticipated passenger traffic growth.<br /><br />The FDI in aviation as announced recently, particularly with regard to greenfield and brownfield airports, is laudable. The Centre, in collaboration with states, must attract FDI in the airport sector on an urgent basis, as otherwise the targets laid down for passenger traffic cannot be achieved within the time frame mentioned in the policy. <br /><br /><em>(The writer is founder & national president, Air Passengers Association of India, Chennai)</em></div>
