In a good news for the new airlines, the Civil Aviation Ministry would soon submit a draft note on the proposed changes in the controversial 5/20 norm to the Cabinet for approval. As per the present norms Indian carriers needs to be in operation for at least five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly on international routes. By bringing in changes in the more than decade-old rule, the government seeks to address the imbalance between domestic and foreign carriers.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has however proposed a complicated formula replacing 5/20 norms, in which domestic flying credits would still be needed for new airlines to fly overseas. As per the proposed norms, a new airline would be eligible to apply for international operations once it has operated on domestic routes and deployed capacity equivalent to at least 200 domestic flying credits (DFCs). On reaching the 300 DFC milestone, the air carrier can approach the government for being designated on a long haul international route of more than 6 hours flying time. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju had earlier said that sooner the 5/20 rule was thrown out the better.
There is wide difference among the different players of the industry over change of rules as the Federation of Indian Airlines, which has IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and GoAir as its members has objected to any relaxations, while new entrants Vistara and AirAsia India strongly pitched for scrapping of the rule.