Demand for chartered flights hits a new high

Mumbai: Among the lakhs of flights that took off from airports across the country last year, more than a thousand were Indian chartered flights operated to international destinations.
"Last year, 1,240 chartered flights of Indian firms flew to foreign destinations. That is a record number," said an official from the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA). This, despite the country's unfriendly policies in international chartered flight operations. , the demand from the Indian market crossed the 1,000 mark in 2010. The economic slowdown, too, did not seem to have made a dent in the demand.
It is safe to surmise that most of those international chartered operations were planned days in advance and were not last-minute dec. "It is not yet possible to operate a last-minute international chartered flight from India," says a chartered aircraft operator in Mumbai. The biggest hurdle is getting the mandatory YA code needed to operate a flight to foreign shores. "The DGCA takes a minimum of three working days to give the YA code," said the operator. For instance, if an operator applies for a flight from Mumbai to Mozambique on Saturday evening, the plane can take off on on Wednesday. "Only after you get a YA code can you proceed with the flight plan. The code is faxed to the air traffic control authorities at the destination airport as well as those that the aircraft would fly over," he added.
07/02/11 Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2011