Aviation policy sent to GoM

The Defence Minister is said to have pointed out that these elements directly impinge on larger issues like security of Indian airspace, much of which is under Defence control. Before approving the policy, he wanted a detailed security review.

While the Civil Aviation Ministry sought to argue that the policy is in line with the current practice of joint airspace management, the explanation did not win the day.

Besides this, some other Cabinet members made the point that Civil Aviation Ministry cannot be entrusted with complete powers on deciding the case-to-case approval for domestic private airlines flying abroad. They insisted that a set of guidelines be drawn up and approved by the Cabinet for this purpose.

With these objections, including reservation from some quarters on aviation fuel being identified as a 8220;declared good8221;, it was felt that the best way would be to set up another GoM which would submit its report in three months time to the Cabinet.