NEW DELHI: Indian private planes and chartered jets will soon find it easier to operate internationally as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to drop the mandatory clause of obtaining clearance for each and every operation.
Currently, private aircraft operators, both Indian and foreign, find it difficult to accommodate last-minute plans of corporate honchos due to a maze of rules. Private jet operators find themselves in a fix, especially if needed to fly on a weekend when government offices are closed and are unable to give the required clearances.
The pre-condition of taking clearance from the regulatory agency (called YA number) will be removed for Indian-registered chartered flights or private jets to fly out of the country from December 15, DGCA said on Thursday. Sources said the regulator may relax the norms for foreign registered charter flight or private jets by January-end.
With the norms being eased now, private operators can carry out international operations by just filing a flight plan with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) unit concerned.
As part of the relaxed norms, DGCA will also issue an authorisation, which will be valid for five years for private operators for carrying out overseas flights, a DGCA statement said.
Sources said that the decision had been taken after holding series of discussions with home and defence ministries in order to facilitate the ease of doing business. One of the world’s largest private jet charter companies, VistaJet, had last year said that getting clearances on a weekend to even overfly India was extremely difficult.