UP to expand air travel with open sky policy

This clears the way for the commercial operation of small aircraft and air taxis in the state

Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday adopted an ‘open sky policy’ to connect important towns and promote tourism through air travel.

This clears the way for commercial operation of small aircraft and air taxis in the state.

Important towns such as Agra, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Allahabad, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Moradabad, Kushinagar, etc, are proposed to be connected through indigenous air services. Other major towns and tourist spots would also be connected by air.

The state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav approved the policy to this effect.

Under the policy, the state would provide sops and facilities to aircraft operators in the form of seat underwriting, value-added tax (VAT) waiver on air turbine fuel (ATF), free landing/parking facilities at airstrips owned by the state government, among others. The VAT waiver on fuel would only be applicable to scheduled and non-scheduled flights weighting up to 40 tonnes.

To ensure transparency in operations, ticketing and seat availability, a dedicated web portal would be jointly maintained by the airline and UP State Tourism Development Corporation (UPSTDC).

The airline would be responsible for  maintenance of the aircraft, conforming to applicable security norms and recruitment of pilots and other staff according to rules laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

On July 1, 2013, the Cabinet had already granted an in-principle approval to the operation of air service in UP and UPSTDC had been anointed as nodal agency. It was also decided to appoint a consultant for preparing feasibility report on air routes and the Request for Qualification document. The idea was to promote trade/tourism and boost economy through air connectivity.

The Cabinet also sought to simply the evaluation process of projects under public private partnership model by categorising the proposed projects on the basis of cost.