To fly global, new airlines will need to stay local for 2½ years

The Union Cabinet’s nod is needed for changing the rules as the decision to bring in what is referred to as the 5/20 rule was approved by the Cabinet in December 2004.

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A senior official in the ministry of civil aviation said, “The proposed route dispersal guidelines have certain inbuilt checks to ensure that domestic air connectivity is not affected as more and more Indian carriers start international flights. New airlines need to have a blemish free record of one year of domestic operations. They will have to have completed an annual safety audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and earned a certain number of points by meeting the guidelines for flying in India before it becomes eligible for international flights.”

“We expect that it will take a minimum of 2.5 years for a start up to achieve all these criteria,” added the official.

Currently, Vistara, AirAsia India and GoAir are the only Indian carriers which are not eligible for operating international flights from India as they do not meet the laid down guidelines.

DGCA cell to monitor airfares

Aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up a special cell for the monitoring of domestic airfares.

A senior official in the ministry of civil aviation said, “The cell will monitor domestic airfares for at least three months to see whether there has been any unnatural upward or downward movement in fares.

Monitoring airfares does not include asking airlines details of frequent sales though.

After analysing data over a period of three months a decision will be taken whether any action should be taken against an airline.
The official further added, “There is no question of regulating airfares in a free market economy. But the new cell will monitor whether there is predatory pricing and whether the companies are pricing their tickets within the prescribed limits which are on display on their website.”