New Delhi: The Centre’s ambitious initiative to boost air connectivity in the North-East is likely to take a hit, as change in the civil aviation policy might force private air operators to cut down operations in the region.
The bone of contention is the Centre’s move to change the 5/20 rule, the four operators, which among themselves control 90 per cent of the passenger traffic, are opposing. The so-called 5/20 rule in the Route Dispersal Guideline (RDG) entails that a new carrier has to operate in the domestic sectors for five years and have a minimum fleet size of 20 aircraft before it is allowed to operate international flights.
But the latest draft National Civil Aviation Policy circulated by the Centre proposes to do away with the 5/20 norm, upsetting the old players in the field. The tweaking of the rule is likely to benefit the new entrants Air Asia and Vistara, a Tata-promoted subsidiary of the Singapore Airline.
Briefing a selected group of newsmen from the North-East, top executives of the four operators said that loss-making sectors, like the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep, which are categorised as II and II A routes in the RDG, are likely to be hit.
Those who briefed the media today included chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, Ajay Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Go Air, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, president of Indigo, Aditya Ghosh and vice president (corporate affairs), Jet Airways, Ragini Chopra.
02/03/16 Kalyan Barooah/Assam Tribune
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The bone of contention is the Centre’s move to change the 5/20 rule, the four operators, which among themselves control 90 per cent of the passenger traffic, are opposing. The so-called 5/20 rule in the Route Dispersal Guideline (RDG) entails that a new carrier has to operate in the domestic sectors for five years and have a minimum fleet size of 20 aircraft before it is allowed to operate international flights.
But the latest draft National Civil Aviation Policy circulated by the Centre proposes to do away with the 5/20 norm, upsetting the old players in the field. The tweaking of the rule is likely to benefit the new entrants Air Asia and Vistara, a Tata-promoted subsidiary of the Singapore Airline.
Briefing a selected group of newsmen from the North-East, top executives of the four operators said that loss-making sectors, like the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep, which are categorised as II and II A routes in the RDG, are likely to be hit.
Those who briefed the media today included chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, Ajay Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Go Air, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, president of Indigo, Aditya Ghosh and vice president (corporate affairs), Jet Airways, Ragini Chopra.
02/03/16 Kalyan Barooah/Assam Tribune
