Private carriers seek more time for response to draft civil aviation policy

Private airlines have sought more time to state their views on the draft civil aviation policy released by the Union government on October 30.

Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) - representing IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir - said in a letter to civil aviation secretary R N Choubey the deadline was “too short” and more time should be given because the proposals were “far reaching ramifications on the sector.”

The civil aviation ministry has invited comments on the draft policy till November 21 this year.

FIA requested an extension to submit its response till December 15, closer to the time when the Union civil aviation ministry plans to send the draft policy for the approval of the Cabinet.

“We have received, on 2 nd  November 2015, a letter from Gargi Kaul, JS (joint secretary) and FA (financial advisor), asking us to send in our comments by 15 th  November 2015, giving us less than two weeks to provide our inputs. We would like to point out that this time frame is too short, especially as we are required to provide our inputs on policy issues that have far reaching ramifications on the sector as a whole and our member airlines in particular,” said a letter dated November 5, undersigned by FIA’s associate Director Ujjwal Dey.

Earlier, Choubey had told reporters that the government would “not wait for delayed responses”, adding that the policy would be sent for the Cabinet’s approval in December after receiving public and inter-ministerial comments.

FIA said its member airlines needed time to understand the impact of the proposals on themselves and the sector as a whole. “You will kindly appreciate that we need to understand the impact not only of individual proposals contained in the draft NCAP (national civil aviation policy), but also their impact on our business and the sector as a whole, as each proposal is interlined and will impact other areas within the airlines domain as well as within sub-sectors of the civil aviation domains,” the letter further read.

“We are soon going to respond to them saying we will not be able to extend the deadline for comments,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official. The official said the ministry received 65 responses, but none from any of the airlines.

According to sources, the new airline Vistara will soon send its comments on draft policy. AirAsia India couldn’t be reached for comments.

The draft civil aviation policy has proposed a regional connectivity scheme; open sky policy for many countries; maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sops; route dispersal guidelines; helicopter policy, among other things. However, the policy has been silent on the Union government’s stand on the ‘5/20 rule’, which requires five years of operations and 20 aircraft for a domestic carrier to fly abroad. FIA has been opposing any move to abolish the rule as all its member airlines, except GoAir, operate on international routes.

FIGHT FOR FLYING SPACE

ARGUMENTS

• The Union civil aviation ministry has invited comments till Nov 21
• The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) says deadline “too short”
• The FIA requested an extension to submit its response till Dec 15
• Union civil aviation secretary RN Choubey says the government will “not wait for delayed responses”
• Vistara will send its comments on the draft civil aviation policy soon

DRAFT POLICY SUGGESTIONS

• A regional connectivity scheme
• An open sky policy for many countries
• Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) sops
• Route dispersal guidelines
• A helicopter policy