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Advocating scrapping of the '5x20 Rule' which bars certain Indian carriers from flying abroad, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday exhorted domestic airlines to fly on routes where the bilaterals signed between India and other countries have been lying unused.
The minister said "to my understanding, no country in the world has a rule like this", which mandates a carrier to be five-year-old and have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before being allowed to serve on international routes.
"Nobody has given me reasons why five years, why 20 aircraft...," Raju told reporters.
The minister said the government wanted to encourage the domestic carriers to utilise the "unused bilaterals".
"Our problem is regional connectivity. Our problem is there are lots of unused bilaterals which we have with several countries.
We would like to encourage Indian players (to utilise them)," Raju said. There have been attempts to do away with the '5X20 Rule' for quite some time, but without success so far.
The Wadia Group-owned budget airline GoAir, which completed five years of operations in December 2010, is still not eligible to fly as it has only 19 aircraft in its fleet.
Last week, Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara, which will commence its flight services from January 9, had said that it was hopeful of such curbs going off in the interest of the domestic aviation industry.
Responding to a question on the beleaguered carrier SpiceJet, Raju said the current situation was the outcome of its internal problem and it needed to set its house in order.
"The problem that SpiceJet is going through is economic.
They have to solve it.
They have to fundamentally get their things right," the minister said.
He said the government is trying to help the aviation sector overcome its problems, but added "the government's role is that of a facilitator... to remove the impediments, if any." "Whatever the government will do for the airlines, it will be for all.
It will not single out one airline," he said. Responding to a question on air fares, Raju said air fares are by and large determined by the market forces and any government intervention in such an exercise could impact the other related sectors such as tourism.
"Most airlines in the world are not regulated. If you want to have regulations, then you have to have your regulation parameters right," he said.
Earlier in the day, Raju inaugurated the e-office governance in his ministry and the e-clearance for communication mast at Airports Authority of India.
Image: The security check area at the Mumbai International Airport
Photograph: Rediff