Ministers meet to discuss new civil aviation policy; 5/20 rule may be scrapped

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met Thursday ministers to discuss the new civil aviation policy, which may be finalised soon. According to officials who attended the meeting, abolishing the 5/20 rule was also discussed.

The meeting was attended by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey, official sources told Hindu BusinessLine.

Under the 5/20 rule, an airline that has had five years of domestic industry experience and a fleet of 20 aircraft can operate on international routes. Abolishing the rule would benefit new airlines such as AirAsia India and Vistara.

"The 5/20 norm is likely to go and will be replaced by a rule that will ensure domestic connectivity is not compromised after airlines are allowed to go international," an official, who requested anonymity, told the Economic Times.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has reportedly opposed abolishing the policy. The FIA, along with member airlines such as GoAir, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and IndiGo, have demanded that the matter of "effective control of carriers" be solved before the government changes international operation rules.

The draft civil aviation policy also proposes launch of "regional flights" at a minimum fare of Rs 2,500, ET added.

The InterGlobe Aviation (which owns IndiGo) stock closed at Rs 839.50 Friday, down 1.21 percent from its previous close, while the Jet Airways scrip gained 2.82 percent and settled at Rs 557.50.

SpiceJet rose 4.11 percent to close at Rs 68.40 on the BSE.