Air charter licence norms being reworked to prevent misuse

MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd, a regional carrier that has been flouting Indian aviation rules by offering commercial services on a charter licence, has removed the schedule of its flights from a company website even as the civil aviation ministry now plans to amend norms making it difficult for operators to bypass its guidelines.
Currently, 13 regular airlines in the country, such as Jet Airways and Air Deccan, are allowed to publish their flight schedules. But about three times that number, granted licences as non-scheduled operators, cannot do so. As a first step, MDLR, owned by realtor Murli Dhar Lakh Ram Developers and Promoters Pvt. Ltd, has agreed to deactivate a link with the schedule on its official website, www.mdlrairlines.in, said a senior civil aviation ministry official who did not want to be named. Indeed, late on Tuesday, the web link was generating, “the page cannot be found” message.
Before the advisory was issued on 14 May, the airline had renamed the link to ‘Time Schedule’ from the earlier ‘Flight Schedule’ and carried details of flights to its three destinations that the passengers could fly to.
Some confusion comes from provisions under civil aviation rules that have become redundant since they were prepared in October 1999 or did not take into account technological advances, such as e-ticketing, not available at that time, noted the ministry official. Such loopholes need to be plugged in the rules and they will be amended, he maintained.
About 14 new airlines, including MDLR, have asked for scheduled operator permits but these are pending approval, given the crowded infrastructure at airports.
23/05/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: General Aviation May 2007, MDLR May 2007