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International Civil Aviation Organization TE/35

ASSEMBLY — 37TH SESSION

Agenda Item 46: Other issues to be considered by the Technical Commission

LICENSING OF AERODROMES IN INDIA

(Presented by India)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper brings out status of India‘s progress to comply with ICAO‘s Amendment No. 4 to Annex 14
— Aerodromes, Volume I — Aerodrome Design and Operations, requiring certification of aerodrome.
As the amendment also requires establishment of an appropriate regulatory frame-work and well defined
safety oversight mechanism, as a pre-requisite for the commencement of action for certification of
aerodromes, measures taken in India to comply with the said ICAO standards and recommendations are
also highlighted in this paper.

Strategic This working paper relates to Strategic Objective A: Safety – Enhance Global Civil
Objectives: Aviation Safety.

Financial None
implications:
References: Annex 14 — Aerodromes, Volume I — Aerodrome Design and Operations,
and relevant ICAO Docs, Aircraft Rules, 1937 and Civil Aviation Requirements
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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Regulations for licensing of aerodromes in India existed since 1956 as provided in
Rule 79 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. The Rule however excluded Government aerodromes, which were
managed and operated by the regulator – Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The Rule required
licensing of a place other than a Government aerodrome that is used as a regular place of landing and
departure by a scheduled air transport service or for a series of landing and departures by any aircraft
carrying passengers for hire or reward.

1.2 Prior to 1971, the regulator was the operator of Government managed aerodromes and an
aerodrome directorate existing within the regulator engaged primarily in management of aerodromes. In
1971, the management of four Government managed international aerodromes i.e. Delhi, Mumbai,
Chennai and Kolkata was given to the International Airports Authority of India (IAAI). In 1985, the
management of all Government managed domestic aerodromes was transferred from the regulator to the
National Airports Authority (NAA) along with the aerodrome directorate. In 1995, the two entities IAAI
and NAA were merged to form Airports Authority of India (AAI) with the responsibility of functioning
and managing Government aerodromes. Airports Authority of India (AAI), as on date manages most of
the aerodrome in the country.

1.3 Subsequent to formation of NAA, and transfer of all aerodromes, CNS/ATM, AIS from
DGCA, there was a void and no infrastructure was available in DGCA to oversee these functions. The
aerodrome standards directorate was established in DGCA and commenced functioning in the year 1999
onwards. However, the activities remained minimal due to the manpower constraints and lack of
regulatory framework for aerodrome licensing.

1.4 ICAO in March 2001 adopted Amendment No. 4 to Annex 14 Volume I that required all
aerodromes used for international operations to be certified by 27 November 2003. This necessitated
amendments to be carried out in the existing regulations on aerodrome licensing in India. Accordingly,
the Rules pertaining to licensing of aerodromes in India were amended to comply with the provisions of
Annex 14 which now read in 2004 as ‗Rule 78 – No aerodrome shall be used as a regular place of
landing and departure by a scheduled air transport service or for a series of landings and departures by
any aircraft carrying passengers or cargo for hire or reward unless it has been licensed for the purpose.’

1.5 The Indian Aircraft Rules provide a basic framework for the licensing of the aerodromes
which were amended in 2004 to include licensing of Government managed aerodromes. Detailed
requirements and guidance in the form of Civil Aviation Requirements and advisory circulars have been
developed based on the SARPs contained in ICAO Annex 14 Volume I and guidance material provided in
the ICAO document on aerodrome certification procedure. The procedure cover areas relating to issuance
of an Aerodrome License, preparation of aerodrome manual, Aerodrome design and operations including
exemption procedure for non-compliances of standards. Aerodromes are licensed based on procedures
and checklists given in the Procedures manual designed and developed on the basis of ICAO guidelines.
Above documentation was notified before embarking on the aerodrome licensing.

2. STEPS TAKEN FOR THE LICENSING OF AERODROMES

2.1 It was in 2002 that an Aerodromes Standards Directorate started functioning formally
with the specific function of licensing of aerodromes as required under the Aircraft Rules. The said
directorate with its nucleus at DGCA headquarters at Delhi has four regional offices at Delhi, Mumbai,
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Chennai and Kolkata. The personnel employed in the directorate are suitably qualified aerodrome
licensing personnel selected on basis of their earlier experiences in the field of aerodrome management.

2.2 The aerodrome licensing personnel in DGCA have been provided training on Aerodrome
Certification under ICAO‘s regional Technical Cooperation Project (COSCAP-SA) and the European
Union – India Civil Aviation Cooperation Project. The approach in India has been not only to train the
regulator but also bring awareness to related professional from the aviation industry who have also been
trained through these international training programmes. Thirteen (13) training courses have been
conducted under the above programmes wherein experts from UK and Australia have trained personnel
from the regulator and the industry. In addition technical assistance was also taken through the COSCAP-
SA programme by deputation of its experts to assist the DGCA personnel.

2.3 In India, as on date there are about 87 aerodromes used for scheduled flight operations
and handling passengers/cargo traffic operated on hire or reward basis. Keeping in view that the
implementation of the amended Rule to all these aerodromes would become a gigantic task, a
conservative approach was considered and therefore while framing the amendment to the Rules, a
provision was included which required that aerodromes already permitted for operating scheduled air
transport services, before the commencement of these amended Rules, may continue operation of such
services till the aerodrome operator obtains the licence from the Director General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) by a date to be notified by the Government.

2.4 In view of the large number of aerodromes to be licensed, a phased approach was taken
by India wherein priority was given to licensing the international aerodromes in the first phase. This was
also aimed at fulfilling India‘s obligation to the Chicago Convention. In the subsequent phase, licensing
of aerodromes other than international aerodromes has been taken. As on date, 11 international and 12
domestic aerodromes have been licensed.

2.5 The aerodrome licensing process comprises of assessing the formal application, including
evaluation of the aerodrome manual; technical inspection assessing the aerodrome facilities and
equipment; exemption procedure in respect of non-compliances, issuing an aerodrome license; and
promulgating the licensed status of an aerodrome and the required details in the AIP (India). As a pre-
requisite to the issuance of an aerodrome license, the aerodrome operators are also required to put in place
a Safety Management System as required by ICAO in Annex 14 Volume I.

2.6 Once the license is issued, safety oversight function was also developed by drawing
surveillance inspection plan for licensed aerodromes. Subsequently the surveillance inspection
programme was centralized in DGCA to cover all regulatory functions by creation of ―Surveillance &
Enforcement Division‖. The surveillance inspections carried out by various directorates as per the plan,
are monitored by this division.

2.7 Like the prevailing trend worldwide, all the aerodromes in India had been developed over
a period of time and there was no strict regulatory control over the aerodromes as they were maintained
by governments directly and such bodies were performing dual functions of the regulator and service
provider. Most of the airports in the country have been in existence since the pre-independence era and
have been developed subsequently to meet the requirement of the traffic as well as aircraft operations.
These airports have been upgraded in terms of the runway and associated facilities on the need basis.
This was biggest challenge for licensing of the aerodromes as the compliance of SARPs was not to the
desirable standards for such airports.
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2.8 The aerodrome facilities are notified by the airport operator in the AIP and are available
in the aerodrome manual, which forms the basis of issue of aerodrome license. The present licensing
system which has been introduced cannot resolve the shortcoming existing inherently at an aerodrome
and is making an effort to streamline the system and ensure that development of an aerodrome in future in
rational manner. The licensing procedure also requires that the non-compliances of the standards are dealt
in a defined manner, by seeking exemption (temporary/ permanent). The first aim is to remove the non-
compliances in a time bound manner by the aerodrome operators for which temporary exemption is
granted. In case, resolution of non-compliance is not possible due to reasons beyond control, the
permanent exemptions are granted, by ensuring that the risk is reduced through alternate safety measures.
These shortcomings are notified in the AIP to assist the airlines/aircraft operators to evolve/introduce
additional mitigation measures through operational procedures/limitation.

2.9 A National project was commissioned by DGCA in collaboration with TCB of ICAO to
address findings of audit findings related to aerodrome regulatory system. The project has been completed
and as outcome of the project, DGCA Safety Management System requirement for Aerodrome Licenses,
Advisory Circular on Operational Safety Competence of Aerodrome Operators, Aerodrome Inspector‘s
Handbook and Process for communicating on the planning, construction and commissioning of changes
to Airport Infrastructure have been prepared. These documents will be issued as per the plan prepared for
their issue.

3. CONCLUSION

3.1 India has successfully commenced licensing of aerodromes in compliance with ICAO
Standards through extensive cooperation between the regulator and the aerodrome operators. All licensed
aerodromes are being operated by adequately trained personnel and in accordance with the regulations
based on the standards of ICAO in Annex 14 Volume I. As a consequence, all the airline operators can be
assured of the highest level of safety at the international aerodromes.

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