New Delhi: Advocating scrapping of the '5x20 Rule' which bars certain Indian carriers from flying abroad, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today exhorted domestic airlines to fly on routes where the bilaterals signed between India and other countries have been lying unused.
The minister said "to my understanding, no country in the world has a rule like this", which mandates a carrier to be five-year-old and have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before being allowed to serve on international routes.
"Nobody has given me reasons why five years, why 20 aircraft...," Raju told reporters here.
The minister said the government wanted to encourage the domestic carriers to utilise the "unused bilaterals".
"Our problem is regional connectivity. Our problem is there are lots of unused bilaterals which we have with several countries. We would like to encourage Indian players (to utilise them)," Raju said.
There have been attempts to do away with the '5X20 Rule' for quite some time, but without success so far.
25/12/14 PTI/Business Standard
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
The minister said "to my understanding, no country in the world has a rule like this", which mandates a carrier to be five-year-old and have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before being allowed to serve on international routes.
"Nobody has given me reasons why five years, why 20 aircraft...," Raju told reporters here.
The minister said the government wanted to encourage the domestic carriers to utilise the "unused bilaterals".
"Our problem is regional connectivity. Our problem is there are lots of unused bilaterals which we have with several countries. We would like to encourage Indian players (to utilise them)," Raju said.
There have been attempts to do away with the '5X20 Rule' for quite some time, but without success so far.
25/12/14 PTI/Business Standard
