The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program has maintained the Category 1 status for India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revealed. This comes on the backdrop of rapid expansion by Indian airlines by increasing fleet size and global capacity capturing US and UK markets.
FAA conducted an audit of India’s aviation sector on October 2021 accessing aircraft operations, airworthiness, and personal licensing followed by final consultations in April 2022 and further review in July and September 2022.
Based on all the above reviews, the FAA informed DGCA on April 12 that India meets all the international standards for aircraft safety oversight of the Chicago Convention and its Annexes and will continue to enjoy Category 1 status. Previous to this, the FAA had assessed the country in 2018.
This concludes the fact that FAA is satisfied with India’s oversight of carriers complies with the safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
FAA’s Category 1 status allows airlines to operate/expand their services to US destinations and enter into codeshare partnerships with US airlines.
This news comes at a right time when India airlines are planning to expand its capacity to the US markets by non-stop flights or through codeshare agreements.