Towards Safe, Secure and Affordable Air Travel
Towards Safe, Secure and Affordable Air Travel
Yearender - 2015
The Ministry of Civil Aviation took
several steps during the year 2014 to give a boost to the aviation sector by
improving air connectivity and providing better services to air travellers. The
highlights are as follows:
1. Draft National Civil Aviation Policy Unveiled .
Draft National Civil Aviation Policy
was released by Minister of Civil Aviation on 30th October
2015. Consultation with various stakeholders has been carried out during
the month including Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Civil
Aviation. The mission of the Draft Civil Aviation Policy is to provide safe,
secure, affordable and maintainable air travel with access to various parts of
India and the world with an objective of enhanced regional connectivity, ease
of doing business and promoting entire aviation sector chain from cargo,
general aviation, aerospace manufacturing to skill development.
2. Growth of domestic passenger traffic:
Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Oct 2015 were 660.60
lakhs as against 550.69 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year
thereby registering a growth of 19.96%.
3. Simplification of procedures
The procedure for import/acquisition of aircraft by scheduled
operators/regional scheduled operators: was simplified by delegating power to
grant initial NOC/in –Principle approval to Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA).
4. FDI by foreign airlines
FDI by foreign airlines up to 49% in scheduled air transport
service/domestic scheduled passenger airline/regional air transport
service, 100% in non scheduled air transport services and 100% helicopter
services/seaplane service requiring DGCA approval has been permitted
subject to certain sectoral regulations.
5. Regional and Remote Area Air Connectivity:
To achieve better regulation of air transport services to un-served and
underserved areas, a draft policy on promotion of Regional and Remote Area
Connectivity is being finalized in consultation with stake holders as part of
National Civil Aviation Policy. The objective of the proposed Regional
Connectivity Policy will be to encourage airlines to operate in remote and
regional areas by offering various concessions/incentives and at the same time,
making it obligatory to fly to remote and intra remote areas.
6. Issues relating to Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul:
Ministry of Civil Aviation is in the process of creating a conducive
environment for the growth of Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) industry
to enhance the viability of MRO business.. Airports Authority of India (AAI)
has finalized its policy for allotment of land at concessional rate and
exemption from royalty charged for MROs. Ministry of Civil Aviation is
finalizing the National Civil Aviation Policy which includes development
of MRO activities in consultation with Ministry of Finance, Department of
Revenue and will focus on rationalization of the taxes and simplification
of customs procedures to facilitate MROs.
7. E-Leave :
All officials of the Ministry except MTS are using e-office portal while
applying for their leave.
8. E-File:
90% files in the main Ministry are
being submitted through e-Office
.
9. E-Pension:
Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare has launched an
online system ‘Bhavishya’ for tracking of pension sanction and payment.
Officers/officials of the Ministry are being brought under the ambit of
Bhavishya.
10. Top Security Rating
As per the latest security audit conducted by International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO), India’s Compliance with Annex 17 Standards of
ICAO has been rated as 99.59%, which brings India’s aviation security rating at
the topmost rung amongst the countries signatory to ICAO conventions.
11. New Integrated Terminal Building at Tirupati Airport
New Integrated Terminal Building with capacity to handle 500 domestic
and 200 international passengers at a time was commissioned and operationalized
at Tirupati Airport on 21st November, 2015.
12. New Airport at Kadapa
The Kadapa Airport was formally
inaugurated on 07/06/2015
.
13. New Civil Air Terminal at Chandigarh
New Civil Air Terminal at Chandigarh
was dedicated to the Nation by the Honourable Prime Minister of India on 11th
September, 2015.
14. New Terminal Building at Vijayawada
The Foundation Stone laying ceremony of
the New Terminal Building at Vijayawada Airport was held on 19th October, 2015
at Vijayawada airport.
15. Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) and New Hangars at LGBI
Airport, Guwahati inaugurated
16. GAGAN system (GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION) launched.
GPS- Aided Geo
Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system has been fully operationalized and is
capable of providing navigation services to departure, en-route and landing
operations to suitably equipped aircrafts. The GAGAN System provides very
accurate and high level of integrity satellite signals for precision air
navigation over the entire Indian airspace.
17. NOCAS V.2.
The existing online height clearance
system. NOCAS has been upgraded to NOCAS V.2. The NOCAS V.2 is bound to process
the NoC application without any human intervention after physical verification
of site elevation and co-ordination by AAI officials and issuance of NoC for
height clearance expeditiously
18. MoU between AAI and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise
An MoU has been signed between Airports Authority of India and Singapore
Cooperation Enterprise for Operations and Maintenance support of Ahemdabad and
Jaipur Airports.
19. The
status of Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University:
The posts of
Vice-chancellor and Project Director have been created and process
of selection is underway . A Steering Committee was
constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary for monitoring the different
implementation tracks of the University and for providing necessary guidance in
execution of the project. In order to finalise the syllabus and other
modalities, Ministry of Civil Aviation had organized a Workshop on 4th March,
2015 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Report of the Workshop has been approved the
Steering Committee. The Ministry has entrusted the construction work for the
university to Airports Authority of India. AAI has awarded the tender for work
relating to construction of Package I (Academic Block, Hostel, Residential
Quarters, Sub-station Building, etc.). Total estimated budget for construction
of infrastructure to be allotted to AAI Rs. 149.48 Cr. The construction
work has started.
20. Development of International Air Cargo Hub:
One of the main
objectives of Draft Civil Aviation Policy is the development of International
Air Cargo Hub at gateway airports in India. To achieve this objective, airports
will be developed as regional cargo hubs, integrating multimodal transport
facilities, cold chains and other commodity specific requirements. The
turnaround time for cargo will be upgraded to international standards. In this
regard, Ministry has nominated RITES Limited to prepare DPR for setting up of
International Air Cargo Hubs at Delhi and Chennai Airports. RITES will submit
its report by 15/1/2016.
21. Skill Development in Aviation Sector:
It has been decided to undertake a
Skill Gap Analysis in the Civil Aviation Sector, and develop a road map for
undertaking a skill development programme for which a new budget head has been
opened in this year’s budget. The Ministry has engaged M/s ICRA Management
Consultancy Services Limited (IMaCS) as Consultants for this work
Furthermore, Ministry of Civil Aviation
has set up a Task Force headed by Economic Advisor, MoCA with members of
air cargo stakeholders/ training institutions to come up with suggestions on
the industry's requirements, and ways and means to implement skill development
training programmes. In addition to this, AAI has entered into an agreement
with IATA for training of large pool of professionals to keep AAI ahead of the
curve in a world of rapid change.
22. MoU between AAI and ICAO
To augment the capability of the
developing countries and to implement the standards and recommended practices
and to promote the safety and development of international civil aviation AAI
signed an MoU with ICAO for a period of two years for establishing and
administering training to participants selected from designated ICAO Member
States (developing countries).
23. Earthquake Relief in Nepal
Airports Authority of India under
guidance of Ministry of Civil Aviation, provided relief material weighing approximately
25 tonnes, comprising of essential food items, blankets, waterproof tents,
sanitary items, medicines and utensils etc. as part of Government of India
initiative to extend helping hands to the earthquake victims of Nepal.
24. Air Navigation Services (ANS) directorate of Airports Authority of India
(AAI), has been awarded the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock Award for Innovative
Product/Service for the year 2015’ by the Institute of Directors.
25. Kolkata Airport has been declared “Best improved airport” for
the year 2013 and 2014 consecutively in Asia Pacific by Airports
Council International (ACI).
26. Airports Authority of India launched its first E-Learning program
on “Introduction to Airport Operations” a nationwide knowledge enhancement
initiative for its Pan –India employees.
27. CAT-II operations have started at Lucknow and Amritsar airport with
effect from 17/12/2015 evening.
28. In order to promote and encourage the works of amateur and budding
artists in India, Airports Authority of India has started art galleries at its
Airports.
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