DGCA considers easing of import norms for aircraft

Domestic airlines might soon be allowed to import aircraft that are up to 18 years old, with aviation watchdog – the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – proposing to ease norms as the government looks to boost regional air connectivity.

Currently, local carriers are not allowed to import aircraft more than 15 years old. DGCA has proposed changes to a more than two-decade old regulatory framework. It has proposed that pressurised aircraft that are to be imported should not have ¨completed 18 years of age or 50 per cent of operating cycle.¨

A pressurised aircraft is one which is equipped to handle cabin pressure at an altitude of above 10,000 ft. Such aircraft should not have completed ¨15 years of age or 75 per cent of design economic life or 45,000 pressurisation cycle.¨