New Delhi: In a major relief to India’s struggling-to-survive airlines, the government has deferred its order that from January 1, 2019, all planes they import should be equipped to receive signals of the indigenous navigation system GAGAN. Now airlines will need to do so from June 30, 2020, said a senior aviation official.
In another relief, oil companies are going to lower aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by over 14% for January. “ATF prices are being lowered about 14.5% effective midnight today. Great respite for airline industry in India,” AirAsia India COO Sanjay Kumar Tweeted on Monday.
The move to defer GAGAN-enabled planes will be especially beneficial to those operating small planes like trainer aircraft and small business jets as equipping them with GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) would have cost about $3 lakh per plane, say sources. “Retrofitting a small old plane, like when importing one for pilot training here, to make it GAGAN-enabled would have cost more than the plane itself,” said an industry source.
The national civil aviation policy mandated that all aircraft being registered in India from January 1, 2019 should be GAGAN enabled. This GPS-enabled navigation system was launched by Airports Authority of India (AAI) in July 2015. Accordingly, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier said, “aircraft being imported for registration on or after January 1, 2019 shall be suitably equipped with GAGAN equipment.”
31/12/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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In another relief, oil companies are going to lower aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by over 14% for January. “ATF prices are being lowered about 14.5% effective midnight today. Great respite for airline industry in India,” AirAsia India COO Sanjay Kumar Tweeted on Monday.
The move to defer GAGAN-enabled planes will be especially beneficial to those operating small planes like trainer aircraft and small business jets as equipping them with GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) would have cost about $3 lakh per plane, say sources. “Retrofitting a small old plane, like when importing one for pilot training here, to make it GAGAN-enabled would have cost more than the plane itself,” said an industry source.
The national civil aviation policy mandated that all aircraft being registered in India from January 1, 2019 should be GAGAN enabled. This GPS-enabled navigation system was launched by Airports Authority of India (AAI) in July 2015. Accordingly, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier said, “aircraft being imported for registration on or after January 1, 2019 shall be suitably equipped with GAGAN equipment.”
31/12/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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