(a) the measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to provide affordable air service to the
Southern States of the country, especially Tamil Nadu, in view of a good number of heritage centres in
this part of the country;
(b) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to address the competition from the private
aviation industry; and
(c) the measures being taken to improve the efficiency of the aviation sector to meet the global standards?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS & MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION
(SHRI VAYALAR RAVI)
(a) At present air services are available from following stations of Tamil Naidu:-
Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Trichy, Tuticorin. Besides, following stations of Southern Region
are also connected by Air. Hyderabad, Rajamundry, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Vizag, Bangalore, Belgaum, Hubli,
Mangalaore, Mysore, Calicut, Cochin and Trivandrum.
Government has issued initial No Objection Certificate (NOC) to following companies to operate Scheduled
Air Transport Regional services in Southern Region:
(1) M/s Freedom Aviation
(2) M/s Air Pegasus
(b) Operations in domestic sector have been deregulated and flights are being operated by concerned airlines
on the basis of commercial viability subject to adherence of Route Dispersal Guidelines. Government has laid
down Route Dispersal Guidelines with a view to achieving better regulation of air transport services taking
into account the need for air transport services of different regions of the country including North-East
region. It is, however, up to the airlines to provide air services to specific places depending upon the
traffic demand and commercial viability while complying with Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG).
(c) The Government has constantly been responding to changing scenario and formulating sector specific
policies to facilitate and enable growth of the sector and to meet global standard and competition.
Some of the steps undertaken by Government are as under:
(i) Easier FDI Policy for airports has been put in place vide which 100% FDI, through automatic
route, has been permitted in Greenfield airports. (ii) FDI requirements for air transport side
of civil aviation have been revised and separate limits have been prescribed in respect of different
sectors such as schedule cargo airlines, non-scheduled operators, MRO etc. (iii) Relaxed procedure for
establishment of private airports for private use has been announced.(iv) Private domestic airlines have
been permitted to fly on overseas routes subject to specified guidelines. Further, bilateral arrangements
with other countries have been gradually liberalized to enable better international connectivity. (v) A
new Flying Training Institute has been established at Gondia, Maharashtra. Further, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya
Uran Akademi has been restructured. These measures would help in putting in place better training
infrastructure for skilled manpower in the aviation sector. (vi) The infrastructure at the airports,
Air Traffic Control and Navigation is being constantly upgraded to meet the future demand of the airlines.
(vii) to create a world class airport infrastructure upgradation/modernization of a number of metro and
non-metro airports have been undertaken by Airports Authority of India (AAI)as well as through Joint
Venture Companies. (viii) AAI has undertaken upgradation & modernization of 35 non-metro airports in
the country in a time bound manner. In addition, 13 more airports have also been taken up for upgradation.
(ix) AAI has also undertaken the modernization and expansion of the international airports at Chennai and
Kolkata.(x) DGCA from time to time reviews and amends its regulations as per international standards and
aviation requirements of the country. (xi) DGCA itself has been strengthened to meet international safety
obligations.(xii) City side development of specific airports has been undertaken under Public Private
Participation model.(xiii) A new policy for green field airports which envisages.(xiv) An Independent
regulatory Authority, namely, AERA has been established 12.5.2009 with the prime objective to create
a level playing field and healthy competition amongst all major airports (Government-owned, PPP- based,
private), regulation of tariffs of aeronautical services, protection of reasonable interest of users.