New Delhi: Low-cost aviation pioneer GR Gopinath’s dream of providing intra-state connectivity in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal may remain just that — a dream.
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has turned down his proposal to begin charter services in these states, citing many loopholes in his application for importing two 72-seater ATR aircraft on wet lease.
Under wet lease, an airline hires not just an aircraft but pilots and crew.
Unless the Ministry of civil aviation overrules DGCA and grants permission to Gopinath, Deccan Charters’ plans will not takeoff.
Gopinath said DGCA had earlier given him approval to import aircraft on wet lease, but stopped the import mid-way in Dubai some time back, despite an assurance that the wet lease would be converted to dry lease (so that Indian pilots and crew can be used) within 3-6 months.
But DGCA officials said no permission was given to Gopinath to import aircraft, only a no-objection certificate was granted and that wet lease is anyway allowed only under very specific circumstances.
“A non-scheduled operator permit (NSOP) holder bringing an aircraft from overseas has happened only once in the last 15 years. This could lead to undesirable consequences such as foreign aircraft owners resorting to this device and freely operating within the country without mandatory security checks in foreign crew. There are more than 130 NSOPs and the short-staffed DGCA cannot check each and every instance.”
The regulator noted that Gopinath produced security clearance certificates for foreign pilots and engineers for charter operations which were more than one year old.
01/07/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Friday, July 01, 2011
Home »
Deccan Aviation Jul 2011
,
Foreign Jul 2011
,
Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2011
,
New Jul 2011
» GR Gopinath’s intra-state aviation plan nixed
GR Gopinath’s intra-state aviation plan nixed
Friday, July 01, 2011
Related Posts:
Airlines hawk tour packagesNew Delhi: Domestic and international airlines are offering travel packages to flyers that cover not only tickets to the place of travel but also hote… Read More
Business aviation makes inroads in AsiaThe Asian market is waking up to the fact that companies using business aircraft earn more than those that don’t (141 percent more, according to an NB… Read More
'Ensure adequate flights for Haj pilgrims'Guwahati: The state Haj committee has written a letter to the Haj Committee of India (HCI) to ensure that all pilgrims have a safe flight to Mecca for… Read More
About mid-air woesLast month, a 42 year old Estonian woman died after a heart attack on the Delhi- Goa SpiceJet flight. Though a doctor travelling on the same flight tr… Read More
Air turbine fuel VAT slashed to 4% in AmritsarAmritsar BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday hailed state government’s decision to slash VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) from 22 per cent to 4 per … Read More
0 comments:
Post a Comment