Licensing of airports Mandatory by June 2011
The Central Government has made licensing of all airports mandatory by June 2011.
The Central Government directed by a Notification published in the Gazette of India that ?no person shall operate scheduled air transport services to/from an aerodrome with effect from the 30 June 2011, unless it has been licensed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)?.
The licensing procedure for airports was initiated as a part of the standards notified by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in its Annex-14 on the subject of Aerodrome Design and Operations.
Accordingly, Part XI of the Aerodrome Licensing in the Aircraft Rules 1937 was amended to include the provision for licensing.
While making the amendment in the Aircraft Rules a provision was kept for the licensing of aerodromes which were already in use for scheduled flight operation. The said provision had the requirement for obtaining the license for such aerodromes by the date notified by the Central Government in this regard.
As per the current notification, the notified date has been extended by the Govt. till 30th Jun 2011 vide notification SO 1735 (E) dated 19th July 2010.
Therefore as on date the aerodrome which had not been licensed can continue to operate without obtaining the license up to 30 June 2011, with the above legal provision.
The licensing status:
AAI operated Aerodromes:
Total number of AAI airports to be licensed : 53
Initial Licenses issued : 15
License applications received : 15
Aerodrome inspected for licence issue : 14
Applications yet to be submitted : 23
Other than AAI
Private /JVC – Licensed 10
Aizwal (Lengpui), Jindal Vijaynagar, Karntaka, Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, Cochin, Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, Sri Satya Sai Airport, Puttaparthy AP, Jamshedpur Aerodrome, Jamshedpur, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, AP, Bangalore International Airport, Devenahalli, Karnataka, Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji, Airport Nanded.
Other than the above airports, there are 22 defense airports under the Ministry of Defence which have Civil Enclaves where civil operations take place.
The issue of licensing of these airports have been taken up with the Ministry of Defence.
