Soon, desi airlines can also operate foreign-registered aircraft

Allaying international lessor concerns that repossessing their aircraft from Indian carriers is an uphill task if the latter hit bad times like Kingfisher, the government is soon going to allow desi airlines to operate foreign registered aircraft.

At present, airlines in India are required to get an Indian registration when they lease (rent) aircraft from foreign leasors.

“In case an airline runs out of money, then various government agencies that have to recover dues from it seize aircraft — including those leased from foreign companies. So for no fault of the leasor, their planes get stuck in India. Several planes leased to Kingfisher can still be seen rusting at various Indian airports. Due to this, the cost of leasing planes to India is higher than global norms,” said a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).


The regulator has almost finalised the new norms allowing Indians carriers to operate foreign-leased aircraft without getting a desi registration, a three-alphabet code beginning with VT. “We should have the new rules in place very shortly,” said the official.