Govt makes exception, lets pvt airlines fly to Colombo

According to ministry officials, the nod was given on the basis of the Cabinet’s approval in December to let private carriers fly to SAARC countries. However, the DGCA’s letter to private operators specifically asks the two airlines to file schedules only for Colombo. It is silent about other South Asian destinations.

The letter, official sources said, is not a notification but more a ‘‘preparatory’’ step asking the two carriers to file their schedules for Colombo. A formal notification could take a couple of more weeks. Though the two carriers had filed their schedules once earlier on the basis of the joint statement issued by the prime ministers of India and Sri Lanka last year, they have been asked to furnish the details afresh.

It’s learnt that the DGCA has been more than generous to both the carriers. Jet Airways has been asked not to file for more than 28 flights a week from four different destinations in the country while Air Sahara has been given a figure of 21. The latter, however, plans not to operate more than 14 flights a week initially. Both carriers hope to start operations by the second week of March.

Apart from a host of technical clearances, the DGCA’s letter asks the two airlines to fulfill certain mandatory requirements which include:

• Familiarity of airline pilots on the air routes to the destination and awareness of flying regulations in the foreign country,

• Approval of its security manual and systems by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security,

• Station facilities like parking bay, aircraft infrastructure, including details of its maintenance staff at Colombo,

• Qualified loaders and their particulars.

The main hitch could only arise in security clearance. Given the backdrop of the security-related objections raised in the February 4 Cabinet meeting to a proposal allowing private domestic airlines to operate abroad barring the Gulf countries, sources said, there could be concerns over this decision of the ministry as it draws legitimacy from a two-month-old Cabinet approval.