NEW DELHI: The country's civil aviation regulator has more than doubled the validity of airline transport pilot licence to five years as part of changes introduced to make it easier for pilots and airlines to do business in India.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation also doubled to 12 months the validity of the medical certificates of pilots aged 40 to 60 years. "These changes have been carried out through amendments to rule 39C of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and are part of the initiative to make it easier for businesses in India," a senior civil aviation ministry official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The official said the changes are in accordance with global norms. "Our rules are a little more stringent than the global norms and we have eased it in accordance with global rules without compromising even a bit on safety," he said. A senior pilot welcomed the move but said a lot more needs to be done. "Globally, a pilot's licence is valid for life. Here we had to get it renewed every two years. Increasing the validity period to five years is a step in the right direction but a lot more needs to be done," said the commander.

On the change in validity of medical examination certificates, the pilot said the government should have included pilots till the age of 65. "Pilots can fly till the age of 65, and 12 months medical certificate norms should have been allowed for all pilots. Global norms allow pilots till the age of 65 to go for medicals annually," he said.

India ranks 130 out of 189 countries in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index. The Narendra Modi-led government has said improving the ease of doing business across sectors is a priority.

In line with this, the civil aviation ministry has proposed a slew of steps including doing away with requirement of clearance for domestic airlines entering into code share with foreign peers, open skies with countries that lie outside a 5,000 km flying radius from India, allowing airlines to do ground handling themselves and removing Central Industrial Security Force from non-core security functions at airports.The ministry has also chalked out a plan to convert the DGCA into an electronic office and introduce applying and issuance of various permission through the Internet. "All these steps are aimed at removal of bottlenecks of the sector and provide ease in doing business," the aviation ministry official said.

Source : ET