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Have you ever noticed the sign VT on Indian aircraft and wondered what it represents? Experts suggest that a radio call sign or registration code is assigned to each aircraft, and the prefix ‘VT’ is the nationality mark that each aircraft registered in India carries. “The registration alphabet for aircraft registered in India is VT. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has allotted three series of call signs to India, but the ‘VT’ prefix is the one currently used,” said Colonel Rajgopalan, founder, ‘Aviation Training India’.
Adding that it is not an abbreviation and does not mean anything, he said that the full registration mark would follow this prefix, such as VT-123, where the numbers following “VT” are unique identifiers for each aircraft. “This system helps in identifying and tracking aircraft within the aviation industry,” Colonel Rajgopalan told indianexpress.com.
According to the expert, India was assigned the call sign VT during the International Radiotelegraph Convention of Washington in 1927.
In 1929, all British-owned territories, including Australia, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, etc., were allocated series VA to VZ. Australia got VH, Canada VP, Sri Lanka VP-C, and India got VT. “It was just a series allocation for British territories, but VT did not signify it stood for Viceroy Territory,” said Rajgopalan.
The International Telecommunication Union or ITU initially allotted three series of call signs to India: ATA-AWZ, VTA-VWZ, and 8TA-8YZ. “All civilian aircraft registered in India continue to use the VT prefix,” said Rajgopalan.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation have been unable to provide evidence of VT standing for ‘Victorian’ or ‘Viceroy’s Territory’. “The call sign on Indian planes VT is not an acronym for ‘Viceroy Territory’,” former Minister of State for Civil Aviation Vijay Kumar Singh told the Rajya Sabha in December 2021.
In a written response to Member of Parliament Harnath Singh Yadav, Singh noted that all other call signs that are closer to India or Bharat, such as I, IN, B, BH, BM, or HT, are already assigned to other countries.
Interestingly, if the call sign is changed, all documents will have to be reissued, such that all aircraft have to be grounded and repainted to change the markings, which can have a “huge financial implication on the airlines and the civil aviation sector”, Singh noted in his response.
