The Indian government is to make changes to the 5/20 civil aviation rule.
The much debated 5/20 rule made it mandatory for airlines to fly domestically in India for five years and have a fleet strength of at least 20 aircraft before serving international routes.
Last week, a discussion headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh had reportedly concluded with the decision to scrap the 5/20 civil aviation rule.
The new rule states that airlines must now reserve 20 aircraft or 20 per cent of their total fleet — whichever is higher — for services to domestic destinations. They do not need to wait for the earlier specified timeframe.
The civil aviation minister is expected to officially circulate the new rules next week.
This will come as good news to Vistara and AirAsia India, which began operations in the country in 2015 and 2014 respectively.
However, Jet Airways and IndiGo, which have majority market shares, oppose the change as they will now have to compete with the newer carriers.
They insist that if the rule is changed, more established airlines should not be forced to fly uneconomic routes to loss-making tier-II cities.
Neha Gupta
