India may relax import restrictions on older aircraft

The Indian DGCA has issued an advisory that it could change regulations to allow aircraft up to 18 years old to be imported into the country. The current regulations put a 15-year-old cap on the import of commercial aircraft. The proposed revision has a caveat that aircraft can only be up to 18 years old if it has completed no more than 50% of its specified design life or operating cycle. If it has exceeded that, or has exceeded 45,000 pressurisation cycles, then the 15 year limit will still apply. The DGCA said it made the decision in the light of studies that “have not clearly established that there is a correlation between accident rate and aircraft age up till 18 years.” It said the move was a “cautious relaxation” and that it would apply to commercial air transport jet aircraft [that] could still have an effective economic useful life of decades. <br/>