New Delhi: Amid a war of words between old airlines and the Tata Group, which has two JVs with foreign airlines, over the 5/20 norm, the government on Friday said that this rule will soon be scrapped.
Union minister of state for aviation Mahesh Sharma told TOI that he has firmed up three to four options, one of which will replace this controversial rule under which an Indian airline must be five years old and have 20 planes in its fleet to start overseas flights. "5/20 is going. In place of that, we will have something like 0/10 or 0/20 or 1/10 or 2/20. One of these options will be chosen very shortly. We are very close to the final decision.
We are also going to ensure that new airlines (which benefit from removal of 5/20) do not compromise on providing domestic connectivity,'' Sharma said. Highly placed sources say the government plans to completely remove the "age clause" and make it mandatory for airlines to have a minimum fleet of 10 or 20 to be eligible to go abroad. The route dispersal guidelines (RDG), under which a certain percentage of flights deployed on metro routes have to be flown in remote and unprofitable sectors in J&K, northeast and Port Blair, will remain.
27/02/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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Union minister of state for aviation Mahesh Sharma told TOI that he has firmed up three to four options, one of which will replace this controversial rule under which an Indian airline must be five years old and have 20 planes in its fleet to start overseas flights. "5/20 is going. In place of that, we will have something like 0/10 or 0/20 or 1/10 or 2/20. One of these options will be chosen very shortly. We are very close to the final decision.
We are also going to ensure that new airlines (which benefit from removal of 5/20) do not compromise on providing domestic connectivity,'' Sharma said. Highly placed sources say the government plans to completely remove the "age clause" and make it mandatory for airlines to have a minimum fleet of 10 or 20 to be eligible to go abroad. The route dispersal guidelines (RDG), under which a certain percentage of flights deployed on metro routes have to be flown in remote and unprofitable sectors in J&K, northeast and Port Blair, will remain.
27/02/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
