New Civil aviation policy may address ‘cargo needs’

With the new government intending to give the much desired attention to the civil aviation sector, the draft of the policy released enlists the intentions and plans of the government in an attempt to expedite the progress of this sector.

The Draft Civil Aviation Policy released by the Civil Aviation Minister, Pusapati Ashok Gajapati Raju focuses on the upliftment of the much ignored cargo sector and the necessary regulations for the same.

“It is a step towards making civil aviation, a vibrant sector in our country, to rise to its full potential,” said the minister while releasing the draft of the Civil Aviation Policy. “The new Civil Aviation Policy is expected to be in place by January 2015,” he added.

The draft talks about airports to be designed as integrated multimodal hubs, so that they provide the best possible service levels as well as potential for growth and the six metropolitan airports to be developed as major international hubs to enable international travel to and from India.Focusing on regional and international connectivity in future a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model would be followed, which would also facilitate the development of the same as a whole.

The draft puts emphasis on rationalising the cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel which is 40 to 45 per cent higher than the international costs to rationalise the rate of taxes so that our costs are competitive.

The Government proposes to substantially develop the transport of cargo by air by developing the six metro airports as regional cargo hubs, integrating multimodal transport facilities, cold chains and other commodity specific requirements and turnaround time for cargo to be upgraded to international standards. Air Freight Stations will be developed in different parts of the country to streamline Customs clearance and to reduce congestion in the airports.