Indian Aviation Industry has been temporarily suspended as the government has lockdown the entire nation for 21 days to combat the deadly virus. All the commercial domestic and international operations have been suspended until April 14, 2020. However, Rescue flights and cargo planes have been exempted from the ban to avoid a hassle in the industry and evacuate passengers from infected nations. To ensure that Aircraft which are exempted from the ban gets a straight passage, Directorate General of Civil Aviation will temporarily extend the validity of Airworthiness Certificates of Aircraft permitted to fly in the lockdown period until July 3, 2020.
ARC Will be Extended for Limited Period
DGCA noted that the Aircraft which are being used for the evacuation and cargo purpose may have their ARC expiring. To make sure that aircraft function without any hassle, DGCA will temporarily extend the Airworthiness Certificate of planes whose validity has expired on or after March 23. In case if the ARC of the permitted planes has expired, they must write to the regional office to get validity extended until June 03, 2020.
Aircraft Must Apply for Regular Extension
The aviation regulator addressed the permitted Aircraft that once the normal functioning of RAO or SRAO starts, the Aircraft have to apply for the regular extension of ARC within a period of 15 days. Also, DGCA has extended the approvals given to Indian companies until July 03, 2020. For foreign companies, the extension has been allowed until September 30, 2020. It is expected that Indian aviation will start its operations from April 15, 2020. However, if the lockdown period extends, the industry might extend the ban and the permitted Aircraft who are operating in the lockdown period might get their ARC extended for more time. As per now, no official statements have been rolled out by the aviation body regarding the extension of the travel ban.