Govt relaxes five-plane norm for GoAir, allows it to fly with four

New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation has permitted low-cost carrier GoAir Pvt. Ltd to continue operations with a fleet of four aircraft, one short of the mandated minimum five-plane size for fleets of commercial passenger airline firms in the country, after the Mumbai carrier said one of its planes has been sent abroad for maintenance.
Current norms by the civil aviation ministry, which were upgraded in the year to prevent fly-by-night operators from entering the business, require a scheduled domestic carrier to have equity of at least Rs50 crore and a minimum fleet of five aircraft—either leased or owned—to keep their licence.
An airline can start operations with just one plane but needs to have at least five within a year.
There are currently eight scheduled airlines in India, all of which run fleets with more than five planes each. Indus Airways Pvt. Ltd closed operations earlier this year over a dispute with lessors of its two leased planes.
The civil aviation ministry confirmed it has granted “special permission” to the Wadia group-run airline, which operates 396 weekly flights and has about 3% market share.
04/07/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: General Aviation Jul 2007, GoAir Jul 2007