Three advisory groups set up to improve aviation sector

Our Bureau Updated - July 21, 2021 at 08:30 PM.

Each will be headed by Jyotiraditya Scindia; government officials and concerned industry players will be members

Karnataka Bengaluru 08 /03/2018 Pic for FILE 
 View of Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru .
(Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha), it is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the city near the village of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport, the original primary commercial airport serving the city. It is named after Kempe Gowda the founder of Bangalore. Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first fully solar powered airport developed by CleanMax Solar.
As of 2016, Kempegowda Airport is the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the country, behind the airports in Delhi, Mumbai and is the 35th-busiest airport in Asia. It handled over 22.2 million passengers with little less than 500 aircraft movements a day. The airport also handled about 314,060 tonnes (346,190 short tons) of cargo. By 2020, it is expected to handle at least 40 million passengers per year, with 45 international airlines and more than 1000 aircraft movements per day.
The airport consists of a single runway and passenger terminal, which handles both domestic and international operations. A second runway is being constructed and is expected to be operational by September 2019 while a second terminal is in the early stages of construction. In addition, there is a cargo village and three cargo terminals. The airport serves as a hub for AirAsia India, Alliance Air, Jet Airways and IndiGo and a focus city for Air India and SpiceJet )
Photo: Sampath Kumar G P

The Civil Aviation Ministry has formed three advisory groups for airlines, airports and MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul), each headed by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and with government officials and concerned industry players as members.

Members

According to three different orders issued by the Ministry, the ‘Civil Aviation Advisory Group of Airlines’ will act as a “platform for discussion on the issues concerning airlines and to find a solution to the issues”.

This group will have Minister of State, Aviation Secretary, Director General of Civil Aviation, along with the top officials of Air India, Indigo, Spicejet, Go Air, Vistara, Air Asia and Alliance Air, as members.

The order has listed nine issues under terms of reference. The group will advise the government for enhancing the domestic and international connectivity on matters related to promotion and passenger and cargo services, on matters related to passenger facilities during air travel, and will suggest ways to safeguard the viability of airlines beside others.

The group on airports will have Minister of State in Civil Aviation, Aviation Secretary, Director General of Civil Aviation, Chairperson of Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of lndia, Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and Chairman of Airports Authority of lndia, along with GBS Raju, Business Chairman, GMR Group, Jeet Adani, Vice-President, Adani Group, and Hari K Marar, MD & CEO, BIAL, as members. Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry will be convener.

Terms of reference for group of airports says the group will advise the government for enhancing the airport capacity, on matters related to infrastructure augmentation and modernisation, on matters related to augmenting passenger facilities and amenities at airports, advise on tariff-related and other regulatory issues, and advise on CAPEX performance of airports, inclusive of targets under National lnfrastructure Pipeline besides other.

The third group is for issues related with MRO, cargo, flight training organisation (FTO) and ground handling (GH). It will have Minister of State, Aviation Secretary, Director General of Civil Aviation, Senior Economic Advisor in the Ministry beside industry players as members.

The group will work to evolve strategy to ensure growth of MRO, GH, Cargo and FTO sectors, to create a congenial ecosystem in the country by suggesting regulatory, policy improvements and measures for better efficiency and growth of the sector, to suggest measures to increase the participation of Indian carriers in air cargo transportation and promote employment growth and to suggest measures for infrastructure improvement and capacity building for air cargo sector, beside others.

Published on July 21, 2021 15:00