Only 5 airports have operating licences

New Delhi: Only five of the country's 126 airports have permits to operate now, according to the latest data with the Directorate General Of Civil Aviation.
Although the present norms require an airport to have a licence to handle aircraft and passengers, most of them, owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India, have been operating without a licence.
According to civil aviation ministry sources, airports and airport operators have been asked to obtain licences before March 31, 2007. Or they will have to shut shop.
Rule 78 of the Aircraft Rules of 1937 stipulates that, "No aerodrome shall be used as a regular place for 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."
The airports with a licence are those in New Delhi, Mumbai, Puttaparthy, Lengpui in Mizoram and Cochin International Airport. Of these, the Delhi and Mumbai airports have now been handed over to private consortiums for their modernisation.
23/10/06 Bipin Chandran/Business Standard/Rediff

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline