National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 released

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016 on 15 June 2016. The policy’s mission is to  provide  safe,  secure,  affordable  and  sustainable air travel  for passengers  and  air  transportation  of  cargo  with  access to various parts of India and the world.
•    Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS): It will not allow the airlines to charge more than 2500 rupees for one hour flight between two small cities. The RCS will come into effect in the second quarter of 2016-17.
•    Code-share agreements: Indian carriers will be free to enter into code-share agreements with foreign carriers for any destination within India on a reciprocal basis. Indian carriers need to simply inform Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA)30 days prior to starting the code-share flights.
•    Encourage Private Security: The Government will encourage use of private security agencies at airports for non-core security functions. The private security agencies will comprise retired personnel from military and para-military forces.
•    No-Frills Airports: They will be built at an indicative cost of 50 crore to 100 crore rupees.
•    Viability Gap Funding (VGF): It will be shared between MoCA and the State Government in the ratio of 80:20 while it is 90:10 for the North Eastern States.
•    The payment of the full amount of VGF will be made to the airline operator from the Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) and the State Governments will be subsequently asked reimbursement.
•    MoCA’s share of VGF will be provided through the RCF, which will be collected and operated by Airport Authority of India (AAI) or any other entity identified by MoCA.
•    MoCA will persuade State Governments to make Value Added Tax (VAT) zero-rated on MRO activities to develop India asan MRO hub in Asia.
•    5/20 Rule: The requirement for 5/20 is modified and all airlines can commence international operations provided that they deploy 20 aircraft or 20 percent of total capacity (in term of average number of seats on all epartures put together), whichever is higher for domestic operations.
•    Bilateral Traffic Rights: Under this, government will enter into an ‘Open sky’ ASA on a reciprocal basis with SAARC countries and countries with territory located entirely beyond a 5000 kilometers radius from New Delhi.
•    India has Air Service Agreements (ASA) with 109 countries covering aspects relating to the number of flights, seats, landing points and code-share.  
•    • Upgradation of Airports: Airport Authority of India (AAI) will continue to modernize the existing airports and upgrade quality of services.    It will also maintain an ASQ  rating  of  4.5  or  more  across all airports  which  have  a throughput above 1.5  mppa and ASQ rating  of 4.0 or more for the rest.
•    Ground Handling Agencies (GHA): The airport operator will ensure that there will be three Ground Handling Agencies (GHA) including Air India's subsidiary/JV at all major airports as defined in AERA Act 2008 to ensure fair competition. 
•    Advanced Cargo Information system: It will be implemented in a phased manner after a universally accepted international template has emerged.
•    MoCA will be nodal agency for developing commercial aero-related manufacturing and its eco-system in India in line with Aeronautical Make in India.
•    Growth of helicopters: Government will support growth of helicopters for remote area connectivity and separate regulations for helicopters will be notified by DGCA.