Route dispersal guidelines to stay
Aviation secretary R.N. Choubey says the ministry will not scrap route dispersal guidelines, but will look at amending 5/20 rules
Route dispersal guidelines that force Indian airlines to launch loss-making flights to remote airports will stay, a top official said, even as the government works on a new aviation policy.
Under rules instituted in 1994, all Indian airlines must deploy at least 10% of their aircraft in so-called Category II routes, which are often commercially unviable but socially important.
At a seminar organized by lobby groups International Air Transport Association and Confederation of Indian Industry, Phee Tiek Yeoh, chief executive officer at Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd, said route dispersal guidelines and the so-called 5/20 rule are costly and challenge the ease of doing business in India.
The 5/20 rule disallows any airline less than five years old and with less than 20 aircraft flying on international routes.
“Route dispersal guidelines and 5/20 must go," Yeoh said.
However, aviation secretary R.N. Choubey said the ministry will not scrap route dispersal guidelines, but will look at amending 5/20 rules.
“We are looking at total transparency and ease of doing business in India for airlines. We are now completely rewriting the current draft civil aviation policy. The current draft needed significant improvement," Choubey said.
The secretary said the ministry will shortly upload the draft civil aviation policy and invite comments from stakeholders.
Later, Yeoh said it is welcome that the ministry has taken a stand to include the views of the industry to recognise the impediments.
“I think they have taken necessary steps and taken a more consultative approach in recent times, which is a good sign," he said. Vistara supports connecting remote locations, he added.
Since route dispersal guidelines aren’t not going away, Yeoh hoped they will be made more business-friendly.
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