- New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday assured total support to entrepreneurs of small aircraft operators and helicopter services to expand their operations to tier-2 & 3 cities in the country.
The assurance of full support was given by Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia at the ‘Advisory Group’ meeting, in which the minister individually addressed regulatory and day-to-day operational concerns of each operator, and resolved to take action on the relevant suggestions put forth by the group.
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Lauding them for their vital role in connecting tier 2 and 3 cities under the UDAN scheme, he committed to enhance processes and approvals for participating operators. To that end, a special cell for helicopters and small aircraft will be envisaged, as and when the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) ramps up manpower capacities.
Representatives of Alliance Air, Indiaone Air, Heritage Aviation, BAOA, Air Taxi and PHL attended the advisory group meeting.
Airlines told to improve on-time performance
During the meeting, Scindia asked the representatives from the airline industry to enhancing on-time performance (OTP) of the airlines, and asked Airports Authority of India (AAI) to relook technical specifications at VFR-equipped (Visual Flight Rules) airports to help enhance OTP of airlines.
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The minister also reviewed the self-monitoring mechanism with regard to airfares followed by each airline, and emphasized upon keeping fares in check on select few routes. The DGCA tariff monitoring unit has been institutionalized to routinely monitor airfares on routes selected on a random basis.
With the aim to bolster connectivity of tier2 and tier 3 cites with international destinations (such as for Ayodhya and Surat), Scindia asked airlines to submit individual aircraft induction as well as deployment plans for the next six months. He advised that airlines to focus on point-to-point direct connectivity, and thus, ramp up capacities with wide body and narrow-body-long-range aircraft.
Aerospace manufacturers told to augment supply chain
In a significant move towards fortifying India’s aerospace manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector, Sicndia urged leaders of aerospace manufacturing majors to present a collaborative plan outlining their requirements from each department of GOI, in order to help them expand supply chains for aerospace manufacturing in India.
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During the advisory group meeting of Aerospace Manufacturers and MROs, minister Scindia also engaged in detailed discussions with MROs on their operational and taxation challenges. He assured to relook select taxation and regulatory issues and collectively work towards greater financial viability for MROs.
He further underlined the ministry’s commitment towards establishing India as a global hub for aviation, and creating a robust and globally competitive aviation ecosystem.
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The meeting was attended by players like Airbus, Boeing, Safran, Max Aerospace, GMR MRO, Bharat Forge, Tata Advanced Systems, RTX, HAL, AIESL, Pratt & Wittney, Air Works, Taj Air, Bird Executive, Invest India and CII.
The meeting also was attended by Gen (Retd) VK Singh, Union minister of state for civil aviation & road transport and highways, Vumlunmang Vualnam, secretary, MoCA and other senior officials from DGCA, AAI, BCAS and MoCA.
