Helitours finally fulfills conditions to get air operator certificate

It can no longer fly as a military operation and must follow all civil aviation rules and regulations, says CAASL Director-General

The Civil Avi ation Authority of Sri Lanka ( CAASL) has issued an air operator certificate (AOC) to Helitours, the Air Force-run paid passenger transport service.

The AOC had been pending till Helitours fulfilled conditions allowing the CAASL to issue certificates of airworthiness ( CofA) to its aircrafts. The company has routinely operated on the fringes of law by carrying paying passengers under military call signs without liability insurance. It had both scheduled and charter operations and typically issued indemnity forms to passengers without CAASL permission.

Helitours has now secured the AOC for its two Xian MA60 planes, said Themiya Abeywickrama,

CAASL Director-General. It is not valid for the Harbin Y-12 which is used for charters.

“At the moment they are not flying as they need to have valid insurance,” Capt. Abeywickrama said. “But when they start, they cannot fly as a military operation and must follow all civil aviation rules and regulations.”

The CAASL’s Airworthiness Division is now satisfied that all conditions have been met, he added: “All the checks were done and they were acceptable to us, as per the requirements. Now the CAASL is responsible for whatever they are doing, whereas earlier we were not. Helitours is under the AOC of the civil aviation regulator.”

The aircraft will have Air

Force pilots who must hold commercial pilot and airline transport pilot licences. The crew will also require separate licensing. Helitours will require liability insurance.

As a limited liability company, Helitours in the past worked outside the radar of the regulator and in defiance of repeated strictures to adhere to civil aviation rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, the Aviation Ministry has still not tabled in parliament an amendment to Sri Lanka’s Carriage by Air Act which imposes prohibitive insurance liability limits-- presently over US$ 180,000 per passenger-- on domestic air operators.

At yesterday’s rate of conversion, this was Rs 45.8mn per passenger. There are other limits set for baggage and cargo, all of which are towering amounts requiring high premium payments. These values are high because they were designed for international carriage.

After protests from the industry, an amendment was drafted to introduce rupee values for liability limits-- that is, a separate regime for domestic aviation. It received sanction from the Attorney General’s Department and Legal Draftsman and was sent to the Aviation Ministry but has not gone beyond that.

The CAASL will not issue the mandatory Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC) if insurance requirements are not met. This has grounded local aircraft operators despite a boom in tourism.