Year End Review 2023 for Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation

Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) attained several milestones in the year 2023 as the sector attained new wings and expanded at a high speed. Some of the major achievements of MoCA are indicated below:

RCS-UDAN

RCS-UDAN was launched in 2016 to enable air operations on unserved/underserved routes connecting different regions, promote balanced regional growth and make flying affordable for masses. RCS-UDAN is a self- financing scheme, with a nominal levy for each departure on main (trunk) routes to cross subsidize the operations of UDAN flights.

• 60 New RCS routes commenced w.e.f 01 January, 2023 to 21 December, 2023.
• 06 Airports Rourkela, Hollongi, Jamshedpur, Cooch Behar, Utkela & Shivamogga operationalized.
• 12 new RCS routes commenced in North Eastern States in the country.
• 154 New RCS Routes awarded under UDAN 4.2 & 5.0.

Digi Yatra

• Digi yatra is a project conceived to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at Airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT).  The project basically envisages that any traveller may pass through various check points at the airport through paperless and contactless processing using facial features to establish the identity.  Passenger can enroll on the platform from the comfort of their home. So far, over 35 lakh users have downloaded the Digi Yatra app.

• Digi Yatra has been launched at following 13 airports:-
• • at Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi airports on 01.12.2022
  • at Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata and Vijayawada on 31.03.2023 and
  • at six airports namely Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Cochin, Guwahati, Jaipur and Lucknow during August, 2023.

• Since its launch, more than 91 lakh passengers have availed the facility of Digi Yatra to travel through the airports. Eventually, all the airports will be covered with Digi Yatra in a phased manner.

Greenfield Airports

Government of India has formulated a Greenfield Airports Policy, 2008 which provides guidelines, procedure and conditions for establishment of new Greenfield Airports in the country.  Government of India has so far accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country, namely, Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Rajkot in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Oravakal (kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh across the country.

Out of these, 12 Greenfield airports, namely Durgapur, Shirdi, Sindhudurg, Pakyong, Kannur, Kalaburagi, Oravakal, Kushinagar, Itanagar, Mopa, Shivammogga and Rajkot have been operationalized. During 2023, three Greenfield airports, namely, Mopa, Shivammogga and Rajkot have been operationalized.

Addressing shortage of ATCOs

The country was facing acute shortage of ATCOs. The Ministry, with concurrence of DPE, approved creation of 456 more posts of ATCOs in April, 2023.

Flying Training Organisations (FTO)

1. There are 34 DGCA-approved FTOs operating at 55 bases in the country as on 30^th November 2023. Of these, IGRUA at Amethi (UP) is under the Central Government, eight are under State Governments and 25 are owned by the private sector.
2. IGRUA, established in 1986, is India’s largest FTO, located at Amethi (UP).  It is an autonomous body under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. IGRUA completed a total of 18,216 flying hours in the year 202 In the year 2023 (till 18.12.2023), IGRUA has completed 6683 Flying Hours.
3. In 2020, Airports Authority of India (AAI) came up with a liberalised FTO policy wherein airport royalty payments (revenue share payment by FTOs to AAI) were abolished and land rentals were significantly rationalised.
4. In 2021, after a competitive bidding process, AAI awarded nine FTO slots at five airports at Belagavi (Karnataka), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Kalaburagi (Karnataka), Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and Lilabari (Assam). Currently, seven of these FTO slots are operational: one each at Belagavi, Khajuraho, Lilabari, and two each at Kalaburagi and Jalgaon. Of these six FTOs that are currently operational, one slot each at Belagavi, Jalgaon and Khajuraho became operational in 2023.
5. In June 2022, after a competitive bidding process, six more FTO slots were awarded by AAI at five airports namely: Bhavnagar (Gujarat), Hubballi (Karnataka), Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), Kishangarh (Rajasthan) and Salem (Tamil Nadu). Of these, one FTO slot at Salem became operational in 2023.

Flight Crew Licensing

The functions of the Directorate of Training and Licensing include initial issue / conversion of CPL/ATPL/CHPL/PPL/FATA licenses and work related to renewal / endorsement of Flight Crew Licenses. DGCA issued 1562 CPLs in 2023 (as on 18^th December 2023), an all-time high.  The number of CPLs issued in India over the last six years is as follows:

DGCA has processed 23908 number of flight crew licensing issue and renewal applications till date through the single window digital platform of eGCA during 2023. The details of Pilot licenses & Ratings issued between 01.01.2023 and 18.12.2023 are as follows:

A new process i.e. API Integration for auto-filling of Pilot’s e-logbook by way of integration of Aircraft System data (ACARS/AIMS/ARMS) of Scheduled Airline Operators (M/s Indigo & M/s Air Asia) with eGCA has been implemented in the current year 2022-2023. This system will enhance accuracy of e-logbook data, overcome fatigue for pilots by avoiding manual filling of e-logbook.

Drones

• All five application forms under Drone Rules, 2021 have been made online on the DigitalSky Platform on 26^th January 2022
• Drone certification scheme has been notified on 26^th January 2022, making it easier to obtain type certificate by drone manufacturers.
• Drone import policy has been notified on 9^th February 2022, banning import of foreign drones and freeing up import of drone components
• Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2022 have been notified on 11^th February 2022, abolishing the requirement of a drone pilot licence. Now a remote pilot certificate is issued by a DGCA-authorised Remote Pilot Training Organisation (RPTO) which is adequate for the remote pilot to operate drones.
• An amount of Rs 29.43 crores (approx). has been disbursed to the beneficiaries during FY 2022-23 under PLI Scheme for Drones and Drone Components.
• Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2023 have been notified on 27th September 2023, providing an alternative arrangement in case of non-availability of Indian Passport with the applicant, for issuance of Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC). Now, government issued proof of identity and government issued proof of address such as Voter’s ID card, Ration card or driving license shall be adequate for issuance of RPC.
• There are 76 DGCA approved Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTOs) in the country. 8680 RPCs have been issued till 18.12.2023 through Digital Sky Platform.

India’s domestic Passenger traffic touches record high

On November 19 this year, airlines in India flew 4,56,910 domestic passengers. This was highest single-day air traffic since the pandemic hit, marking a remarkable 7.4% surge above pre-COVID averages-a clear sign of recovery and resilience in the skies.

Expansion work completed at PPP Airports during 2023

• Commissioning of 4th runway and Eastern Cross Taxiway at Delhi Airport.
• Commissioning of new T2 terminal with domestic and international operations at 

   Bangalore airport.

• Expanded terminal building at Hyderabad airport.
• Restructuring of the Pre- embarkation security check area in Mumbai airport

CAPEX Plan

Under National Infrastructure Pipeline, CAPEX of more than Rs. 91,000 crore is likely to be incurred during the period FY 2019-20 to FY 2024-25, where AAI would be incurring approx. Rs. 25,000 crore and remaining expenditure shall be borne by airport developers under PPP mode. An expenditure of approx. Rs. 65,000 crore has been already incurred up to November 2023, which includes expenditure of approx. Rs. 11,000 crore till November 2023 for FY 2023-24.

Airports run on 100% Green Energy

Use of conventional sources of energy is the prime source of carbon emission at airports and thus replacing with green energy helps in reducing the carbon footprint of the airport. Therefore, MoCA has advised all the operational airports with scheduled operations and developers of the upcoming Greenfield Airports to work towards achieving Carbon Neutrality & Net Zero which inter-alia includes use of green energy. Presently, 66 airports across the country are running with 100% Green Energy.

Congestion at Airports

The issue of Congestion at major airports was witnessed during last year festive season/ Winter 2022, which became a cause of  concern, as it took longer waiting time for passenger processing at various touch points.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken painstaking efforts in collaboration with all the stakeholders including airport operators, BCAS, MHA, CISF, BoI etc. in identifying the bottlenecks for necessary augmentation of infrastructure at airports. In the first phase, Metro Airport operators of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai airports were directed to identify bottlenecks in passenger processing and augment their capacities to meet the growing passenger demands. Subsequently, 10 more airports viz. Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Goa, Patna, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Cochin were identified in September ’23, where the Airport operators were sensitized to take proactive measures to avoid congestion by augmenting capacities, wherever required.

With the above efforts, additional space have  been created at airports by restructuring the available terminal infrastructure to release more space and augment capacity at several passenger touch points for airport operators to be in readiness to handle more passengers comfortably, thereby reducing congestion. MoCA and its agencies are almost on a daily basis monitoring the efforts made by airport operators, the airlines and other stakeholders to ensure that the mitigation measures which are in place are duly complied with and the ultimate airport user, i.e. the passenger(s) get the best travel experience. Identified Passenger Touch points and its improvement at 16 airports over a period of one year is as follows:

• Entry Lanes has been increased by 46% from 213 (as on Dec, 2022) to 312 (as on Dec, 2023).
• Check-in Counters has been increased by 24% from 1316 (as on Dec, 2022) to 1633 (as on Dec, 2023).
• XBIS/ATRs at Security Check Points has been increased by 37% from 234 (as on Dec, 2022) to 321 (as on Dec, 2023).
• CISF workforce has been increased by 21% from 20,487 (as on Dec, 2022) to 24,733 (as on Dec, 2023).
• BoI counters for Immigration/Emigration functions increased by 24% from 808 (as on Dec, 2022) to 1,002 (as on Dec, 2023).

AAI Airports

Following are the accomplishments of Airports Authority of India:

• New Integrated Terminal Building (NITB) (Phase-1) of Chennai International Airport, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu constructed in an area of 1,36,295 sqm. at a cost of Rs.1260 Crores that shall enhance the passenger handling capacity of Airport to 30 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) from 23 MPPA. The NITB was inaugurated on 08th April, 2023.
• New Civil Enclave at Kanpur Airport has been developed in Uttar Pradesh over an area of 6243 sqm. at a project cost of Rs. 150 Crores and is equipped to handle 400 passengers during peak hour. The newly developed apron is suitable for parking three A-321/ B-737 types of aircraft along with a new link Taxi Track of 713m x 23m. The New Civil Enclave at Kanpur Airport was inaugurated on 26th May, 2023.
• New Integrated Terminal Building of Veer Savarkar International Airport, Port Blair has been constructed in an area of 40,837 sqm at a cost of Rs. 710 Crores with a capacity to serve 1200 passengers during peak hours and 50 lakh passengers annually. The NITB was inaugurated on 18th July, 2023.
• New infrastructure at Tezu Airport, Arunachal Pradesh that includes an extension of the runway (1500m x 30m), the construction of a new apron for 02 nos. ATR 72 type aircraft, construction of a new terminal building, and a fire station cum ATC Tower, has been developed at a cost of Rs. 170 Cr. The newly developed infrastructure was inaugurated on 24th September, 2023.
• Union Cabinet approved declaration of Surat Airport as an International Airport on 15.12.2023. The existing Surat Airport in Gujarat has been expanded at a total cost of Rs.353 Crores. As part of this expansion, the existing Terminal building has been extended to an additional area of 17046 sqm to make the total area of the Terminal building 25520 sqm. The NITB will be able to cater to 1800 passengers during peak hours with an annual handling capacity of 35 lakh passengers. The building has provision for further increasing the peak hour capacity to 3000 passengers during peak hours with annual handling capacity to 55 lakh passengers. The NITB of Surat Airport has been inaugurated on 17th December, 2023.

Amendments to Height Rules

Existing Height Rules governing height of the buildings around airports amended to ensure that infrastructure created at the airports may be utilized to the maximum extent without compromising the safety of aircraft operations.

Flexible Use of Airspace

In the past, about 40% of the airspace was unavailable for civilian use. This resulted in aircraft adopting circuitous routes to reach their destinations – leading to inefficient use of fuel and time along with avoidable extra expenditure. IAF controls 30% of national airspace out of which 30% has been released as upper airspace under Flexible Use of Airspace. As part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, IAF has agreed to release these portions of airspace for civilian use. Till date 129 Conditional Routes (CDRs) have been promulgated. This will lead to significant savings in flight time, fuel usage and reduction in carbon emission. The potential savings to the airlines will be to the tune of Rs.1000 crores per annum. Total savings so far from August 2020- Rs.640.7 crore and total CO2 reduction is 1.37 lakh tons.

India’s contribution in CORSIA/LTAG resolution by ICAO

From the very beginning, India has been concerned about the implications of Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) on the developing States. With active support for like-minded countries, India has strongly advocated and has been able to lower the CORSIA baseline to 85% of 2019 emission to benefit Indian carriers along with reduction in ‘Individual Growth Factor’ for compliance cycles.

For ICAO’s Long-Term Aspirational Goals, India’s consistent efforts have successfully resulted in Resolutions being passed by the ICAO General Assembly for allowing national time frames, to not include any mandatory targets that could lead to punitive measures; and to incorporate the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in LTAG.

CAAF/3 (Third Conference on Alternative Aviation Fuel) was held from 21st to 24th November 2023 in Dubai. In order to decide on the possible outcomes of CAAF/3, Pre-CAAF/3 consultations were held on 25-26th September 2023 in ICAO HQ in Montreal, Canada. An Indian delegation headed by DG, DGCA attended the pre CAAF/3 negotiations.

During Pre CAAF/3, India in association with other like-minded countries opposed the potential quantified vision for SAF in the upcoming CAAF/3. Various sideline meetings were held with European Union, China, United Kingdom and Ethiopia wherein the general stand by India was clearly explained and stated on the subject matter.

CAAF/3 was attended by an Indian delegation headed by Secretary, CA. After the days of intense deliberations with all countries during ICAO CAAF/3 at Dubai, ICAO released revised global framework of ICAO which included a para on quantified goals, which was proposed by India. After a series of negotiations, the final accepted global framework of ICAO indicates a non-binding global vision of use of SAF by 5% by the year 2030. The CAAF/3 framework addressed the interventions/concerns raised by India, including decentralization of fuel production across all the States, low-cost financing and funding across all states in a transparent and effective manner, accelerate the development and approval of new Sustainability Certification schemes etc.

International connectivity

India operates a wide ranging network of international flights and currently has Air Services Agreements with 116 countries. In terms of consistent efforts, India presently provides direct connectivity to more than 52 countries, whereas, connecting more than 100 countries through indirect routes. It has been ensured that connectivity is sustained from foreign countries by facilitating designation of foreign carriers as per the provisions of the bilateral ASA’s. Since 2014, India has signed Memorandum of Understanding with 57 countries, wherein, in the year 2023 itself, India has signed/revised MoUs with Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia and New Zealand.

In addition to regular grant of permissions for charter operations from different countries, India has permitted carriage of passengers and cargo through non-scheduled charter operations from Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. 

Air Services Agreement/MoUs

• A MoU dated 27.01.2023 was signed with Vietnam which formalized granting of Bengaluru and Hyderabad as points of call to designated carriers of Vietnam in lieu of Kolkata and Chennai.
• A Protocol was signed with Russia on 17.02.2023 vide which points of call for domestic codeshare were shared, capacity entitlement was increased and route-wise restrictions for Russian carriers were removed.
• An Air Services Agreement was signed with Guyana on 22.04.2023.
• A MoU dated 31.05.2023 was signed with Republic of Korea vide which non-scheduled all-cargo operations by Korean carriers on the agreed route with 3rd, 4th and 5th freedom rights with no restriction on the number of services were agreed up to June 2024.
• Issues related to ASA, 3rd and 4th freedom passenger services, all cargo services were discussed with UK in bilateral meeting held on 25.05.2023. A draft MoU was shared by the United Kingdom side for review/comments by the aeronautical authorities of India. The draft MoU has been examined and certain modifications have been suggested to the UK side.
• A MoU with New Zealand was signed on 29.08.2023 wherein the route schedule replaced with the new one which increases the points of call to 6 cities for each side from existing one for each side, and increases intermediate points. Decisions on enhancement in traffic rights and capacity entitlements; confirmation of cargo open-sky were finalized.
• MoU between DGCA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was signed in Brussels for technical cooperation in Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Innovative Air Mobility.

Open Sky Arrangements with Foreign Countries

As per the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, Open Sky Arrangement allows unlimited flights over and above the existing bilateral rights directly to/from 6 Indian Metro Airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru). In 2022, India entered into open sky arrangements with Maldives and Canada, and with New Zealand in 2023. As of October, 2023, India has open sky arrangements with 24 countries.

Expansion Plan of Indian Carriers

IndiGo has placed an order of 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft on June 19th at the Paris Air show 2023. Air India has formalized deal for 470 Airbus and Boeing Aircraft on June 20th at the Paris Air Show 2023. New destinations connected in 2023: Nairobi, Jakarta, Tiblisi, Baku, Kualanamu, Vienna, Copenhagen, Milan, Amsterdam, Gatwick, Mauritius, Minsk and Entebbe.

Medical facilities for the retired employees of Air India:

During the process of disinvestment of Air India, Government of India decided to provide the medical facilities to eligible retired employees of Air India. As per the decision, Medical Scheme has been implemented. As per the said scheme, Out-Patient Department facility, supply of medicines and referral to Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) Specialist in empaneled CGHS hospitals will be provided by CGHS on similar lines as in case of Autonomous Bodies/Statutory Bodies. As on 31.10.2023, 48013 cards have been issued by CGHS to beneficiaries which covers almost all the beneficiaries.

In-Patient Department treatment and OPD referral treatment facilities are being arranged through UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Limited (UTIITSL). CGHS issued directions to all empanelled hospitals and service providers to extend cashless facilities to Air India retirees. Cashless IPD and OPD referral for day care procedure has started in pan India. Many hospitals and diagnostic centres have started extending cashless services to AI retirees.

Transfer of Art and Artefacts of Air India to NGMA:

In the wake of the disinvestment of Air India, Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) decided to hand over the arts and artefacts in possession of Air India to NGMA. Accordingly, a MoU for handing over of the art collections of the Air India to NGMA has been signed on 18.01.2023 amongst Ministry of Culture (MOC), Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA), AI Asset Holding Ltd. (AIAHL), Air India and National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA

Haj Air Charter Operations 2023:

The Haj air charter operations 2023 commenced from 21.05.2023 and completed on 03.08.2023. This year, five Indian carriers i.e. Air India, AI Express, Indigo, Vistara ,Spicejet and three Saudi carriers i.e. Saudia, Flynas and Flyadeal participated in Haj air charter operation 2023 and transported 1,39,429 pilgrims from Twenty Embarkation points across the Country.

FBO in Aviation Sector: FBO (Fixed Based Operator) is a new entity created which will provide MRO and GHA facility at the Airports to ensure the growth of general aviation in the country.

MoU Signed: An MoU on Cooperation in Aviation Security with France was signed in July 2023.

Updating of Rules: Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 notified in the official gazette on 09 August 2023 and Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2011 repealed.

Air Cargo

AAICLAS has received Regulated Agent (RA) approval for handling of Air Cargo:-

• AAICLAS commenced RA operation at following airports

• AAICLAS has commissioned Air Cargo movement through Airline Self-Handling for Outbound Air Cargo Operations at:
• Patna: 23.05.2023
• Hubballi: 23.05.2023
• Coimbatore: 02.06.2023
• Ranchi: 26.06.2023 (Self handling by airlines has been dispersed. Currently handled by AISATS w.e.f. 18.11.2023)
• Gaya : 12.07.2023
• Tirupati : 11.09.2023
• Jammu: 28.09.2023
• AAICLAS has received RA3 approval for European Union (EU) Countries and UK for Amritsar and Kolkata air cargo terminals on 29-09-2023. RA3 security certificate is required for direct export to UK and EU countries.
• Air cargo facilities created/upgraded during 2023 are as follows:

• Cargo performance for Jan-Oct, 2023 in Lakh MT is as follows:

Aircraft Leasing and Financing

• To promote Aircraft leasing and financing from International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), the Government of India has provided a competitive regime for Aircraft leasing entities in IFSCA, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar.
• Nineteen Aircraft leasing entities are registered with IFSCA as on 30 November, 2023. Additionally, six other applicants have been granted in-principle approval.
• 137 Aviation Assets including 18 aircraft, 63 aircraft engines and 56 ground support equipment have been leased by aircraft leasing entities registered from GIFT IFSC as of 31st October, 2023.

Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO)

• On 9^th June 2023, AAI has issued Land Management Circular through which allotment of land/ space for setting up MROs (for self/3rd party) at AAI Airports to willing agencies on card rate basis for a period of 25 years. No royalty/ concession fee shall be payable/ applicable for self and 3rd party MRO services.

Krishi Udan

• Krishi Udan Scheme 2.0 was announced on 27 October 2021 enhancing the existing provisions, mainly focusing on transporting perishable food products from the hilly areas, North-Eastern States and tribal areas.
• The Scheme covers 58 airports in the country, primarily focusing on 25 airports focusing on North Eastern, Hilly and Tribal region besides 33 airports in other regions/areas.
• In order to facilitate and incentivise movement of agri-produce by air transportation, the scheme envisages waiver of Landing charges, Parking charges, etc. provided for Indian freighters by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Ministry of Defence at selected airports under the scheme.

Amendments in Aircraft Rules, 1937 to promote ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and strengthening Aviation Safety

Aircraft (First Amendment) Rules, 2023 were officially notified on October 10, 2023. As a part of these amendments, the validity of licenses in relation to Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) and Commercial Pilot License (CPL) holders has been increased from five years to ten years along with various amendments encouraging ease of doing business which are as under:

Source: https://pib.gov.in/