New Aviation Policy: 10 things to know

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet at its meeting has cleared a new Civil Aviation Policy. It has several passenger friendly rules. Here are 10 highlights for a quick read:

• Rs 1200 fare cap on 30 minute flights.
• Rs 2500 fare cap on 60 minute flights.
• 5/20 rule replaced by 0/20 rule: Airlines can now fly foreign sector if it has 20 aircraft and without flying domestic sector for 5 years. Big boost for start-up airlines. More competition.
• Boost for domestic aviation sector: Auctioning of unilateral traffic rights, tax incentives.
• 2 per cent levy on all air tickets to fund regional connectivity scheme and providing viability gap funding for airlines to encourage operate on regional routes.
• DGCA will create a single-window system for all aviation-related transactions, queries and complaints. DGCA also intends to ensure real-time safety tracking and prompt incident reporting.
• Domestic airlines will be free to enter into code-share agreements with foreign carriers for any destination within India on a reciprocal basis. International code share between Indian and foreign carriers will also be completely liberalised.
• Government will liberalise the regime of bilateral rights, leading to greater ease of doing business and wider choice to passengers.
• Air strips will be refurbished, depending on demand, as no-frills airports. This will be done at a cost not exceeding Rs 50 crore, mostly through AAI.
• Riding on news of new aviation policy, airlines stocks surged by nearly 5 per cent on Wednesday.
• Work for new civil aviation policy began 10 years ago but did not move. NDA introduced fresh draft in October 2015.