What is 5/20 in Indian civil aviation? Air Corporation Act of 1953 was repealed in 1994 which abolished the monopoly of Indian Airlines and Air India and allowed private airlines to operate in India.
However, Air India maintained its monopoly over international flights as no other airline was allowed to fly abroad. Slowly, domestic airlines led by Jet started demanding that they should also be allowed to go abroad. Since overseas fights involved a bilateral air service agreement between two countries, the airline of a country have to be designated in the agreement.
In order to enable private airlines to go abroad, some criteria was required and this was evolved as the formula of 5/20. This meant that an India airline could qualify for an international flight only if it has completed 5 years of domestic service and has 20 aircraft. This policy formulation was unprecedented as it was not found in any other country. It remains so even now.
Around the time the repeal of Air Corporation Act took place in 1994, the Ministry of Civil Aviation found that private airlines would not undertake unviable routes to regional cities which Indian Airlines was undertaking (after the demise of Vayudoot which is an airline owned by Air India and Indian Airlines) as part of their CSR.
26/01/15 Sanat Kaul/Deccan Herald
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However, Air India maintained its monopoly over international flights as no other airline was allowed to fly abroad. Slowly, domestic airlines led by Jet started demanding that they should also be allowed to go abroad. Since overseas fights involved a bilateral air service agreement between two countries, the airline of a country have to be designated in the agreement.
In order to enable private airlines to go abroad, some criteria was required and this was evolved as the formula of 5/20. This meant that an India airline could qualify for an international flight only if it has completed 5 years of domestic service and has 20 aircraft. This policy formulation was unprecedented as it was not found in any other country. It remains so even now.
Around the time the repeal of Air Corporation Act took place in 1994, the Ministry of Civil Aviation found that private airlines would not undertake unviable routes to regional cities which Indian Airlines was undertaking (after the demise of Vayudoot which is an airline owned by Air India and Indian Airlines) as part of their CSR.
26/01/15 Sanat Kaul/Deccan Herald
