Parliament passes bill to replace 90-year-old Aircraft Act, Civil Aviation Minister says "historic milestone"

New Delhi [India], December 5 : Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to replace the Aircraft Act, 1934 and provides for manufacture and maintenance in the aviation sector, remove redundancies and for ease of doing business.
The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, was passed after a reply to discussion by Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu. Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.
The minister answered queries of members on a range of issues including to rise in air ticket prices.
Naidu said in a post on X that it is a transformative legislation that redefines India's aviation sector
"Today marks a historic milestone as the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, has been passed by the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for its adoption as an Act. This transformative legislation redefines India's aviation sector by replacing the Aircraft Act, 1934, with modern provisions tailored to global standards," he said in a post on X.
"This Act will strengthen our regulatory framework, promote ease of doing business, and enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities in aviation. It also aligns India with international conventions, ensuring our aviation standards are at par with the global best. This is a proud moment for every Indian, and I assure you, the skies ahead are brighter than ever," he added.
Naidu said in his reply that civil aviation sector is instrumental in growth of several other sectors.
"If you look at the true sense of why we want to promote aviation why we want to make it one of the best sectors in the country, in the whole world, because when we talk about aviation we talk about tourism, when we talk about aviation we talk about economic activity, when we talk about aviation we talk about real estate growth, we talk about job creation. When we talk about aviation we talk about industry...that is why aviation is a very important nodal sector that needs to be given that push," he said.
He said the number of airports as well as the passenger traffic has increased after UDAN scheme.
"We have operationalized 86 airports and we can proudly say that Udaan has been a real success story of Indian aviation," he said.
The minister said that fuel price is a factor in airfares and said states can reduce VAT. He said a mechanism to deal with any steep hike in fares is also being improved.
According to statement of objects and reasons of the bill, the Aircraft Act, 1934 has been amended several times to enhance safety, oversight and to meet requirements for sustainable growth of aviation sector and to give effect to the provisions of international conventions.
"As a result of numerous amendments over a period of ninety years, a need is felt to address the ambiguities and confusion experienced by the stakeholders, to remove redundancies, to enable ease of doing business and to provide for manufacture and maintenance in the aviation sector and to re-enact the aforesaid Act in the form of a Bill, namely, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024," the statement said.
The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 seeks to provide for design, manufacture and maintenance of aircraft and related equipment, empower the Central Government to regulate issuance of Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and licence to provide for ease of business and make rules to implement the Convention relating to international civil aviation and the other matters relating to civil aviation security.
It also seeks to empower the Central Government to issue orders in emergency in the interest of public safety or tranquillity, provide for payment of compensation for loss or damage in such manner as provided under the Act and provide for appeal against the matters relating to compensation, licence, certificate or approval and adjudication of penalties.
The bill provides or imprisonment, fine or penalties for contravention of the provisions of the Act or the rules besides removing ambiguities and redundancies.
It provides for repeal of the Aircraft Act, 1934 and regulatory provisions for effective implementation of the proposed legislation.