India continues to retain FAA IASA Category 1 ranking, says DGCA

In the ICAO audit, India's global ranking has also climbed significantly and scored an Effective Implementation (EI) of 85.65 per cent from the previous EI of 69.95 per cent

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has informed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday that India meets the international standards for aviation safety oversight of the Chicago Convention & its Annexes, and continues to retain FAA IASA Category 1 status.

FAA under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme determines whether a country's oversight of its air carriers that operate or seek to operate, into the US or codeshare with a US air carrier complies with safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that based on the positive outcomes of the assessment and follow-ups, India continues to retain FAA IASA Category 1 status, which was last assessed in July 2018.

Through the IASA program, the FAA focuses on a country's ability (not the ability of individual air carriers) to adhere to international safety standards and recommended practices in personnel licensing, operation of aircraft, and airworthiness of aircraft, as mentioned in the ICAO Chicago Convention.

"FAA has stated that DGCA has demonstrated a commitment towards ensuring an effective safety oversight of India's aviation system and appreciated the positive manner in which DGCA has worked with them," the statement said.

According to DGCA, the country's Category 1 determination has come at a time when Indian aviation is on a high growth trajectory and air carriers in India have major capacity induction and expansion plans.

"Air carriers of Category 1 countries are permitted to operate/ expand their services to destinations in the US and codeshare with US air carriers," it added.

In the ICAO audit, India's global ranking has also climbed significantly. The country scored an Effective Implementation (EI) of 85.65 per cent from the previous EI of 69.95 per cent.

“The assessment by ICAO as well as FAA is a testimony to India’s commitment of having an effective safety oversight for its civil aviation system,” the DGCA said.

(With agency inputs)