India's Cabinet approves Civil Aviation Policy

India's Cabinet provided (15-Jun-2016) approval for the Civil Aviation Policy. This is the first time since Independence that an integrated Civil Aviation Policy has been brought out by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The policy outlines the following objectives and forecasts:

• India to become the third largest civil aviation market by 2022 from ninth at present;
• Domestic ticketing to grow from "8 crore in 2015 to 30 crore by 2022";
• Airports having scheduled commercial flights to increase from 77 in 2016 to 127 by 2019;
• Cargo volumes to increase by four times to 10 million tonnes by 2027;
• Taking flying to masses - Enabling Indians to fly at INR2500 (USD37) per hour under Regional Connectivity Scheme at unserved airports;
• Requirement of five years of domestic flying for starting international operations removed;
• Flexible and liberalised 'open skies' and 'code share' agreements;
• Incentives to MRO sector to develop as hub for South Asia;
• Ensuring availability of quality certified 330,000 skilled personnel by 2025;
• Development of green-field airports and heliports;
• Enhancing ease of doing business through deregulation, simplified procedures and e-governance;
• Promoting 'Make In India' in Civil Aviation Sector. [more - original PR]