#NewDelhi : A fare cap of Rs 2,500 for hour-long flights and Rs 1,200 for 30-minute flights are part of the new Civil Aviation Policy approved by the Union Cabinet, sources said on Wednesday.Other proposed changes include auctioning of unilateral traffic rights, tax incentives for airlines, maintenance and repair works of aircraft besides mooting 2% levy on all air tickets to fund regional connectivity scheme and providing viability gap funding for airlines to encourage operate on regional routes.
It is also likely that the 5/20 rule, that allows a carrier to fly abroad only if it has 20 aircraft and has flown domestic for five years, has been replaced by 0/20 rule.
The issue of international flying norm or the 5/20 rule has witnessed extensive debate, with legacy carriers opposing any changes to the rule, while start-up airlines frantically demanding its scrapping.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had last week virtually disapproved the continuance of this rule questioning if anyone had ever benefited from it. He had indicated that the government could mull scrapping it.
The Civil Aviation Ministry had sent the proposed policy to Cabinet for approval on June 3. The NDA government had for the first time unveiled the policy draft in November 2014, subsequently replacing it with another draft in October 2015.
Initially, the policy was expected to be finalised in the last financial year as certain proposals were to be implemented from April 1, 2016.
Since then, the Government has been moving back and forth on the matter, primarily to strike a balance between various stakeholders on their glaring differences over issues
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