THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) is rallying government and industry players to come together to raise the standards of aviation in India in the areas of safety, security and efficiency.
Tony Tyler, director general and CEO, IATA, said: “The interests of government and industry are aligned. Aviation and aviation-related tourism drives 1.5 per cent of India’s GDP and supports jobs for 1.8 per cent of the workforce. A stronger aviation sector will be a catalyst for even wider economic benefits.”
As such, he called for government and industry to collaborate in three areas.
- Safety – Tyler encouraged India to make use of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations global standards as India evolves its Directorate General of Civil Aviation into a Civil Aviation Authority.
Last year, the all accidents safety performance of airlines on the IOSA registry was 77 per cent better than those not on the registry, and there were no hull losses with Western-built jet aircraft among the carriers on the registry.
- Security – Tyler also urged India to address the non-standard advance passenger information that airlines are required to transmit as well as to review its groundhandling policy.
“Airlines are subject to discrimination between how security functions are handled by domestic airlines versus international carriers…And there is deep policy confusion due to different interpretations of the multiple government notifications and concessions awarded by airports,” he said.
- E-freight – India needs to urgently modernise its largely paper-based cargo processes to move towards e-freight implementation, Tyler added.
On green policy, IATA said India should take up a key role in the debate on aviation emissions, specifically market-based measures, via a global agreement through the International Civil Aviation Organization.
