Govt looks to free defence airspace for civilian use

The move will significantly bring down air travel time and lead to significant savings

The government is working on a proposal to free defence airspace for commercial use after repeated requests from airlines.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has constituted a directorate to work towards optimisation of the Indian airspace, in coordination with the ministry of defence.

The move, known as flexible use of airspace, if implemented, will significantly bring down air travel time and lead to significant savings in fuel and cost.

For instance, on the Ahmedabad-Dubai sector, Indian carriers incur an additional Rs 1 lakh as expenditure on fuel as they avoid the restricted airspace over the state and fly over the Pakistani airspace.

SpiceJet has requested the ministry to allow it to use a new route between Ahmedabad and West Asia which will see it save around Rs 1 lakh in each leg. The current route makes the airline fly a longer route using Pakistan airspace. While initial media reports over SpiceJet’s proposal said airlines were trying to avoid Pakistani airspace due to security fears, the government denied it, saying economic reasons were behind the request.

“AAI has straightened the route from Ahmedabad to Gulf, which will save on fuel. On the existing route, our carriers fly over Pakistan airspace. However, on the new route, they will not. There is no political issue as reflected in media reports,” said a government official.

About 40 per cent of Indian airspace comes under defence authorities, and is restricted for civil aircraft movement. As a result, commercial flights have to circumvent the restricted areas, losing fuel and time and adding to carbon emission.

The Ajay Prasad committee, set up in 2007 to formulate a master plan for next generation futuristic air navigation services, had recommended that flexible use of airspace be accepted to optimise the use of Indian airspace to meet the needs of both military and civil aviation for the country.