New Civil Aviation policy in 5 months: official

“We have started fresh work on the new Civil Aviation policy to meet the challenges of the new decade. It will look into issues of sustainability,viability and human resource of the sector,” Civil Aviation Secretary S Nasim Zaidi said while inaugurating a conference “Air Cargo as Engine of Economic Growth” organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) here.

The new policy would encourage private sector investments and lay emphasis on setting up an air cargo promotion board,Zaidi said,adding “we have about five months to complete the process”.

He also said that the Ministry was working on an economic regulatory mechanism for pricing of air tickets as the airlines have been attributing their losses to the pricing of air ticket below their cost price.

“It (pricing of air ticket) is the thrust area. We are also working on an economic mechanism that will look into the issues of legality and others and come up with a report within five months,” he said,adding but it will not regulate the airfares or fix the tariff.

Airline companies have been reporting losses despite an increase in passenger traffic. The domestic air passenger traffic recorded in April to September 2011 registered a growth of 18.8 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

The Civil Aviation Secretary said that air cargo industry has been averaging annual growth of 12 per cent,as the GDP was growing annually at nearly 8 per cent.

Indian airports handled a total of 2.33 million tonnes of cargo in 2010-11,up from 0.5 million tonnes in 2005-06. While the domestic cargo is expected to increase from 0.8 million tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes by 2016-17,the international cargo traffic is projected to move up from 1.5 million tonnes to 2.7 million tonnes during the same period.

Zaidi said that the air freight stations at Mumbai and Chennai would be operationalised soon to keep up with the booming traffic.

He also called for reforms in the customs procedure and said speedy clearances of cargo were required for the sector to maintain high growth rates.

“We need to decongest cargo terminals with simplification of customs procedures,greater use of mechanised handling and speedy clearances,” Zaidi said,adding “India has the potential to emerge as a global trans-shipment hub.”