New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry plans to list India’s biggest airport and helicopter operators Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd, respectively, on the stock exchanges early next year and will also consider Air India for the same, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Monday.
The matter is likely to taken up after January as part of a new civil aviation policy, a draft of which was unveiled by Raju.
“Pawan Hans and AAI can go straight off,” he said referring to the fact that they are profitable. “If Air India can be listed, I would be the happiest person,” he added.
Air India is a loss-making company.
This is the first time the ministry has announced a firm aviation policy in place of the piecemeal decisions taken earlier.
The ministry will also develop Chennai, Kolkata, Ahemdabad and Jaipur airports through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
It will also review bilateral flying rights and take a relook at the so-called 5/20 rule, under which new airlines need at least five years of domestic experience and a minimum of 20 aircraft to fly international routes.
“No country has such a 5/20 rule,” he said. “This is an opaque kind of a rule.”
Raju also said he has ordered an inquiry into a recent incident at the Surat airport where a SpiceJet Ltd plane hit a buffalo on the runway during take-off. The results will be out in three days.
“We can’t have buffaloes on runways...lives are important,” he said. The plane was reportedly carrying 146 passengers and crew.
No comments:
Post a Comment