4 May, 2012

All Indian Airlines Hit by Losses, Except One

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New Delhi, Ministry of Civil Aviation 03-May, 2012 – Mr. Ajit Singh, the Minister of Civil Aviation informed Rajya Sabha (Upper House) today in a written reply that based on returns filed by airlines with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), all scheduled airlines operating in the country except IndiGo are incurring losses. The total operational losses for all the airlines for the period 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 are Rs 19,000 crore approx. and Rs 10,000 crore loss is anticipated in 2011-12.

The Minister said there is no proposal to provide incentives to private airlines. However, an inter Ministerial Working Group has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation to identify the factors causing stress in civil aviation and suggest solutions. Finance Secretary; Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; Director General of Foreign Trade and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation are members of this Working Group, which first met on 21.12.2011.

The recommendations made by the Working Group, inter-alia, include rationalization of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), permission to foreign airlines to invest in the domestic airlines undertakings, allow airlines to import ATF directly for their own consumption, revision of fare structure by airlines so that costs of operations are covered.

Mr. Singh, also informed the Rajya Sabha that Kingfisher owes dues of Rs 279.52 crores towards landing and parking, RNFC, Licence Fee etc to Airport Authority of India (AAI).

He said that continuous monitoring is done by AAI to ensure that the airlines pay their dues in time. In case of default in payment by the airlines, measures like charging of penal interest, withdrawal of credit facility are taken and the airlines are put on a “Cash and Carry” policy.

He said that India’s airline passenger traffic has grown at the rate of 17%-18% in the last few years. According to an assessment of the overall outlook of the sector, the fleet of the commercial airlines is expected to touch approximately 1,000 aircraft in 2020. However, the projected number of new aircraft required in the next ten years would depend upon various factors including, inter-alia, growth of passenger traffic, growth rate of GDP, foreign tourist arrivals, Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and prospects of the growth of other modes of transport etc.

The Minister said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has proposed formation of a Civil Aviation Aerospace Promotion Advisory Council (CAAPAC), which will have members from the regulatory agencies and the aerospace industry. The council will take necessary action to promote aerospace manufacturing activities, review the National Civil Aeronautics Policy, review regulatory framework and recommend medium and long-term measures for promotion of Civil Aeronautics Industry. It will help in identifying areas for development of manufacturing technology and for indigenization of aircraft parts for Indian and global markets.

Some airlines and aircraft operators in India have their own organization for the maintenance of aircraft. Air India and Jet Airways have their own hanger facilities for maintenance. There are also Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MROs) available in India for providing maintenance facilities to aircraft. However, the existing facilities are not able to fully meet the requirements of the airlines. As a result most of the airlines have to send their aircraft to foreign maintenance organization, the reply informed.

In order to have a sustainable orderly growth of the aviation sector, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has felt the need to spell out a long term Civil Aviation Policy.  Accordingly on 22.12.2011, a Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation to formulate a Civil Aviation Policy so as to provide a road map for development.

The Government has identified focus areas and a consultation paper has been placed on the website of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (www.civilaviation.nic.in) inviting comments from all stakeholders. The comments received from various organization are under examination.

Credit Limit for Airlines

The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mr. R.P.N. Singh informed the Lok Sabha (Lower House) in written reply on May 3  that The credit limit allowed by the Public Sector  Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) viz. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) to each airline for Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). He provided the company wise details as under:

Name of the OMC	Name of Airline	Credit limit allowed as on 30.04.12 (Rs. in crore)
IOCL	Air India	2700.00
	Jet Airways	878.00
	Kingfisher Airlines	0.00
	Go Airlines	57.00
	Spice jet	95.00
BPCL	Air India	745.00
	Kingfisher Airlines	0.00
	Jet Airways	160.00
	Go Airlines	0.00
HPCL	Air India	530.90
	Kingfisher Airlines	409.00
	Jet Airways	0.02

The Minister said that Air India, Kingfisher Airlines and Paramount Airways have defaulted in making payments on time during the last three years.

Other aviation-related announcements by the Minister of Civil Aviation

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not yet conducted a nationwide survey to identify crucial airports. However, post Manglore crash, 11 airports, which were considered critical airports from flight operations point of view have been inspected. As a part of safety reassurance drive, the airport systems, facilities and procedures were thoroughly reviewed by DGCA to enhance the safety of aircraft operations at Leh, Kullu, Shimla, Port Blair, Agartala, Lengpui, Calicut, Manglore, Jammu, Patna and Latur. On the basis of suggestions in the inspections, the following actions have been taken to enhance the safety at the aerodromes with the aerodrome operators:

• Provision of Runway End Safety Area.

• Ensure proper making on runway.

• Proper maintenance of Basisc strip and ensuring Frangibility area.

• Periodic calibration of Nav-aids.

• Maintenance of runway surface within appropriate friction level.

• Removal of obstruction and proper marking and lighting of permissible obstacles.

• Safety risk assessment in respect of non-compliance.

Penalty on Drunk Pilots on Airlines

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has amended Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section 5, Series ‘F’, Part III dated 30th November, 2010 which provides for suspension of license for three months for first time and for five years in case a pilot is detected positive during pre-flight medical examination for the second time.

This regulation requires airlines to conduct the test before all domestic flights and after every 15 days at foreign airports. This shall be supplemented by post medical flight checkup. It shall be ensured that all flights originating from outstation are covered by post flight medical checkup within a period of 10 days, i.e., three times in a calendar month.

The details of total number of Pilots found drunk on airlines for the last three years are: