New Delhi: In the very near future, smaller towns in the country will have new and a lot easier option of connectivity with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) preparing to come out with a set of regulations within the next 45 days regarding the Commercial seaplane service, the government said on Monday.
According to Civil Aviation Secretary RN Chaubey, single engine twin pilot planes will only be allowed to operate on those routes which would be within the “gliding time” of the aircraft.
He also said that a committee which was constituted within in the aviation regulator DGCA, has made some positive recommendations and they have found single engine operations under certain circumstances to be possible.
“Single engine twin pilot service would be possible, but there would be certain requirements and we are examining the committee’s suggestions in this regard,” he said.
The requirement for the commercial seaplane would be be to have a route available nearby in case of any emergency or engine failure, to be able to glide that way and land safely at the nearest airport.
There was news doing the rounds that the Civil Aviation Ministry has been looking for vialbility of starting such service for quite some time. Last year, in December, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had sought from then Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju to explore for the possibility with a regulatory regime for single-engine seaplane services.
And related to the same point was the Prime Minister being flown on a seaplane from the Sabarmati River to Dharoj Dam in Mehsana district on the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly elections.
While referring to other proposals, Mr Chaubey also said that an easy-to-understand passenger charter, mentioning all entitlements of a flyer would be put up in public domain soon.
“We believe that in the DGCA’s current regulation, with regard to compensation for flyers, they are not passenger-friendly. Therefore, our ministry is working on an easy-to-understand passenger charter in which we will be capturing all the entitlements that passengers have with regard to the service they should expect from the amount paid,” the secretary said.
Mr Chaubey also talked over the issues and challenges which confronts the aviation sector in the country, including many infrastructural challenges.
Related to the same sector, he also expressed hope that very soon, Navi Mumbai airport would also have all its operations started in the next three years and said that very soon he will meet senior officials of the Maharashtra government to finalise the deadline on each part of the airport.
The secretary also said that the proposed second airport in the NCR regionin Jewar will also be bid out by the end of this calendar year.
According to him, expansion of airports is the key mission of the ministry as the sector is witnessing a 20 per cent growth rate and aims to double up the figure as crude oil prices are expected to remain soft in the coming years.
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