Government's efforts for cheap air travel | Fusion - WeRIndia

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has brought out the draft civil aviation policy with the aim of enabling the common man to fly at least once every year. With this policy, they are proposing a two per cent levy on air fares on main routes in order to subsidize air travel for under-served and unserved destinations.

The ministry has also made proposals to replace the 5/20 rule too. According to this rule, an Indian airline should have a fleet of 20 aircrafts and 5 years of experience if it wants to start international operations. The MoCa wants to replace it with a reworked domestic flying credits (DFC) formula. They also want to keep options to either retain or remove the regulation completely.

Regarding this rule, a final decision will be taken after public consultations. Once the final civil aviation policy is cleared by the Cabinet, then the decision will be announced.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is planning an upfront subsidy to airlines in order to reduce the cost of air travel on certain routes. They want to increase the air connectivity so that the common man can afford it. They want to bring the cost to about Rs.2,500 per flying hour under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The subsidy for this scheme would be collected in a Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) and it is generated by levying a two per cent charge on air tickets in high-volume traffic routes.

There are over 401 unused no-frills air strips in the country which are to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs.50 crore each. They will be supporting flights to unconnected destinations in the country. The ministry is expecting that the push for air travel made under the regional connectivity scheme will result in a boost of domestic air traffic to 300 million by 2022. Currently it is 70 million.

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