The replacement of 5/20 rule which is a part of the National Civil Aviation Policy has been approved by the government as Cabinet clears National Civil Aviation Policy.
According to the previous rule (5/20), a domestic airline was allowed to go on international routes only when it meet 2 requirements:
- after completing five years of domestic flying
- afteroperating at least 20 aircraft.
According to the new rules, new airlines will be allowed to go international Route without completing any time limit.It just need to:
- deploy 20 aircraft, or
- 20 per cent of the total fleet size,
- Whichever is higher, on domestic routes in order to secure international flying rights.
The ‘5/20 rule’ was approved by the government in December 2004 when many decisions were taken to protect national carrier Air India. At that time, along with Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and now defunct Air Sahara were allowed to fly on international routes. IndiGo, launched in 2006, had to wait till 2011 to begin operating on international routes and SpiceJet, which began operations in 2005, had to wait till 2010 to do so.
Vistara which was set up in January 2015, has 11 planes presently and plans to expand its fleet to 20 planes by June 2018. AirAsia India, which began operations in June 2014, operates eight planes at present. Both the airlines mayreview their fleet expansion plans after the new norms are set in.
BY: ANKIT RAJPUT