25.6.10

Airports operate sans licences

Lost in the din of debates on air safety and claims of aerodrome modernisation is a fact only a few know even in aviation circles: only eight of the more than 50 operational airports in the country have the mandatory licences issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation. Airports without a licence include those at Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Madurai, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram.
The last airport to see its licence lapse was Bajpe airport in Mangalore which had a provisional licence at the time of the Air India Express crash which claimed 158 lives on May 22. Its licence expired on June 15. Not having a licence means the airport does not conform to Indian Aircraft Rules, 1937 or the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s safety standards. The immediate fallout, experts feel, could be that insurance companies may not be liable to pay compensation in case of an accident. Such non-compliance could prove costly for Indian aviation which the US Federal Administration (FAA) has already threatened to downgrade from the current top billing to sub-Saharan Africa levels.
“According to Rule 78 of the Indian Aircraft Rules, 1937, only licensed airports should be allowed to operate. Operating unlicensed airports means gross violation of safety norms by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) which owns these airports. This shows the scant respect AAI has for rules and safety of passengers,” said air safety expert Capt A Ranganathan, who has 19,000 hours of flying experience.
While the DGCA website has listed 18 ‘private use’ airports and 23 ‘public use’ airports as having licences (till December 31, 2009), the latest list of licensed airports shows that only nine have their licences renewed and valid. DGCA issues licences to airports which are supposed to meet a number of criteria, including adherence to ICAO Annex 24 safety norms.

Airports without valid licences

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport, Ahmedabad


Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose international airport, Kolkata

Anna international airport, Chennai

Lohegaon airport, Pune

Thiruvananthapuram international airport

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