REVIVAL OF PROJECTS FOR PASSENGER AIRCRAFT

Eager to boost air connectivity through upgraded small airports, India has proposed to revive three passenger aircraft projects: the 14-seater Saras, the 70-seater regional transport aircraft (RTA-70) and the fiveseater NM-5. The primary objective is to fly these locally made planes between small towns and metro cities using the airports that will be eventually upgraded under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). At the Aero India 2017, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan drew attention to the NM-5 passenger aircraft being developed jointly by the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and Mahindra Aerospace. This will be certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in the next one-and-a-half months. Also, NAL will begin the official flight tests of the

Saras project. This 14-seater project was grounded following a crash in March 2009. After a committee probed the crash, Saras was reconfigured and equipment upgraded to boost coordination between the designers and pilots. Vardhan said that the ground tests for the upgraded Saras have already begun. About 25 initial flights are planned.