FDI in Indian aviation to be revived soon: Ajit Singh, Aviation Minister

An exclusive interview by Economic Times with Ajit Singh on FDI policy. Excerpts:

You have stated earlier that you want to make India an aviation hub. But how is that possible without a strong anchor airline, especially when Emirates is being called a de-facto national carrier?

Creating an enabling aviation environment is a pre-requisite to make India a hub. Allowing Indian carriers to fly on international routes and get permissions to do so is the first step we have taken in this direction. If we have to make India a hub, we can't allow foreign air carriers to take away our traffic.

We need to bolster connectivity so that people fly directly out of India, rather than via other places. I have also written to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to slash the service tax to make ticket prices cheaper.

But that still doesn't answer the problem of the absence of a big feeder airline.

Encouraging feeder services from small towns, say Azamgarh to Lucknow or Mathura to Delhi, is a part of the hub policy we are outlining. In order to bolster regional connectivity, we are thinking of having a policy on aircraft acquisition and linking it with route dispersal guidelines (RDG).

Just like growth of airlines, traffic growth will also take time. How will airlines grow if they are not given policy push? That's what I am trying to do from our end.

There is a feeling that the government has bent backwards to accommodate the wishes of airline CEOs and promoters by making changes in policy quickly. Is it because of close links between these CEOs and many politicians in the ruling party?

Which are the policy changes that you think I have made for one particular airline? You thought direct ATF import was allowed for Mallya? But who is getting the first shipment of ATF? SpiceJet. Even Air India wishes to do it. As far as allowing foreign carriers to pick up equity stake in domestic airlines are concerned, it is again the same story.

More than one Indian carrier has welcomed it. Policies are not framed for an airline but for the sector and we are helping all of them equally.

Why is foreign participation in Indian carriers still on the backburner?

I would like to reiterate that this would be done after taking all allies on board. But I can tell you that it is not going to stay on the shelf for long and is likely to be revived very soon.

Kingfisher Airlines is still flying a truncated fleet, has no money and the government is letting it fly. Who will take responsibility in case of a mishap?

What's an accident got to do with Kingfisher? They have planes, they are sticking to their schedules and are undergoing aviation regulator DGCA's checks just like all other airlines. Air India has no money either. It couldn't pay its employees for months. So, should I shut it down?

You recently held a meeting with the Planning Commission to bring the Kolkata and Chennai airports under the ambit of public-private partnership. How would this be different from Delhi and Mumbai airports?

We know that Kolkata and Chennai airports are built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) unlike those at Delhi and Mumbai. So, they are different to that extent and if you keep this in mind, you'll know what a PPP would mean. We will soon arrive at the specific modalities to do so.

Are there any new policy initiatives that are on your mind, which we still don't know about?

I would like to revisit the new ground-handling policy from the perspective that there should be choice of service. Restricting services to a few designated agencies does not give airlines - foreign or local - a choice in matter of a service provider.

Sometimes, the ground-handling staff is the first human interface of airlines, which conveys passengers the service quality of the airline. I have also asked the DGCA to prepare guidelines raising the qualification to 'graduate' from XII pass in order to become a pilot. Pilots need to be more educated in order to be suitable for management roles as part of career progression.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-06-06/news/32079041_1_hub-policy-indian-carriers-aviation-hub