History of civil aviation in India :
The history of civil aviation in India began in December 1912. This was with the opening of the first domestic air route between Karachi and Delhi by the Indian state Air services in collaboration with the imperial Airways, UK, though it was a mere extension of London-Karachi flight of the latter airline. Three years later, the first Indian airline, Tata Sons Ltd., started a regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras without any patronage from the government.At the time of independence, the number of air transport companies, which were operating within and beyond the frontiers of the company, carrying both air cargo and passengers, was nine. It was reduced to eight, with Orient Airways shifting to Pakistan. These airlines were: Tata Airlines, Indian National Airways, Air service of India, Deccan Airways, Ambica Airways, Bharat Airways and Mistry Airways.In early 1948, a joint sector company, Air India International Ltd., was established by the Government of India and Air India (earlier Tata Airline) with a capital of Rs 2 crore and a fleet of three Lockheed constellation aircraft. Its first flight took off on June 8, 1948 on the Mumbai (Bombay)-London air route. At the time of its nationalization in 1953, it was operating four weekly services between Mumbai-London and two weekly services between Mumbai and Nairobi. The joint venture was headed by J.R.D. Tata, a visionary who had founded the first India airline in 1932 and had himself piloted its inaugural flight.
Open-Sky Policy
The Open-sky policy came in April 1990. The policy allowed air taxi- operators to operate flights from any airport, both on a charter and a non charter basis and to decide their own flight schedules, cargo and passenger fares. The operators were, however, required to use aircraft with a minimum of 15 seats and conform to the prescribed rules. In 1990, the private air taxi-operators carried 15,000 passengers. This number increased to 4.1 lakh in 1992, 29.2 lakh in 1993, 36 lakh in 1994 and 48.9 lakh in 1995.The 1996, private air taxi operators carried 49.08 lakh passengers which amounted to a 41.14 per cent share in the domestic air passenger traffic. Seven operators viz NEPC Airlines, Skyline NEPC, Jet Air, Archana Airways, Sahara India Airlines, Modiluft and East West Airlines have since acquired the status of scheduled airlines. Besides this there were 22 nonscheduled private operators and 34 private operators holding no-objection certificate in 1996. The number of plus 120 category aircraft in the private sector was 34 and the total fleet strength was 75 in June, 1996. Two out of seven scheduled air taxi operators suspended their operations in 1996 because of the non-availability of aircraft.
Ministry of Civil Aviation, located at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi 110003, India, is the nodal Ministry responsible for the formulation of national policies and programmes for development and regulation of Civil Aviation and for devising and implementing schemes for the orderly growth and expansion of civil air transport. Its functions also extend to overseeing airport facilities, air traffic services and carriage of passengers and goods by air. The Ministry also administers implementation of the Aircraft Act, 1934 and is administratively responsible for the Commission of Railways Safety, a statutory body set up under The Indian Railways Act.
It has under its purview the following organisations:
1. Attached / Autonomous Organisations
Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Commission of Railway Safety, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi
2. Air Carriers
Air India Ltd. Indian Airlines Ltd. Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd.
3. Airports
Airports Authority of India
Ministry of Civil Aviation
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is responsible for the formulation of national policies and programmes for development and regulation of civil aviation and for implementing schemes for systematic growth and expansion of civil air transportation. Its functions also extend to overseeing the provision of airport facilities, air traffic services and carriage of passengers and goods by air. The Ministry is also administratively responsible for Commission of Railway Safety, a statutory body set up under the Railways Act.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
DGCA is the regulatory organization for enforcing law and regulations. DGCA is responsible for: - [1] Regulation of air transport service both international and domestic. [2] Registration of civil aircraft in India. [3] Formulation of standards of aircraft in India. [4] Licensing of pilots, aircraft engineers and flight engineers. [5] Licensing of aerodromes in India. [6] Investigations and inspections of air accidents. [7] Implementation of bilateral air service agreements with foreign countries. [8] Supervision of training activities of the flying and gliding clubs in India. [9] Processing of aviation regulations. [10] Development of light aircrafts. DGCA is also responsible to coordinate with ICAO regarding all regulatory functions.
BUREAU OF CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY (BCAS)
The BCAS is the nodal body on all civil aviation security matters. It determines the standards of pre-embarkation security and anti sabotage measures in civil air transportation sector in India. It also monitors the application of security regulations at the airports. BCAS also imparts training in aviation security. It has four regional offices at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi, which have a bomb detection and disposal squad each.