Civil aviation policy to come for cabinet nod in January

Open skies get a push in draft aviation policy
Civil aviation ministry plans to put up the draft civil aviation policy for cabinet approval by third week of January.
“We met airlines today and have taken their inputs. We will be holding discussions internally on the policy on Thursday and hope to put up the policy before cabinet by third week of January,” a senior civil aviation ministry official said. The ministry has received over 450 comments from various stake holders on the draft policy.
The meeting at the civil aviation ministry was attended by representatives of Air India, AirAsia and Vistara.  Other airlines – GoAir, JetAirways and IndiGo  who are part of the Federation of Indian Airlines did not attend the meeting.
While FIA is against the relaxation of 5/20 rule restricts new airlines from launching overseas flights AirAsia and Vistara are lobbying for easing of the rule.
The policy also  seeks to improve regional connectivity, bring down fares for short-haul flights and facilitate higher foreign investment. A two per cent cess has been proposed on all domestic and international tickets to fund a new regional connectivity scheme, which seeks to create a pool for the purpose of viability gap funding (VGF).
The government has also drawn up plans to boost air cargo, maintenance, repair and overhaul activities through tax incentives and favorable policies.

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