The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has placed India in the 48th position from the 102nd position in its latest safety audit giving a clear mandate that India has come a long way in improving the air safety processes. India’s score in terms of effective implementation of key safety elements has improved to 85.49%, putting it ahead of China which is in 49th position, Israel at 50, and Turkey at 54th - global position on the ICAO ranking.
India’s score in the 2018 Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme was 69.95%.
Arun Kumar, Director, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) India said: “Maintaining the new-found status is a challenge. We assure all our stakeholders that DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) will leave no stone unturned to further improve India’s ranking. A formal announcement of the result is expected soon.”
ICAO conducted the audit for a week from November 9, 2022, to November 16 in areas including legislation, organization, personal licensing, operations, airworthiness, and aerodrome. Two areas, aircraft accidents, and investigation and air navigation were not audited by ICAO.
“To check if rules were being followed, the team also visited Delhi airport, SpiceJet, a charter operator, air traffic control, communication navigation and surveillance,” Arun Kumar added.
India’s score for civil aviation organization rose from 63.64% to 72.73%, personnel licensing and training from 25.58% to 84.71%, aircraft operations from 80.34% to 97.44%, airworthiness of aircraft from 90.20% to 97.06% and aerodrome and ground aids from 72.36% to 92.68%.
Experts believe that with safety checkboxes ticked, Indian operators have a strong chance of expanding overseas operations and getting quick regulatory approvals for new services.