India is in the process of revamping its security operations and organization to meet the phenomenal growth in traffic, said the Minister for Civil Aviation, Vayalar Ravi. Inaugurating the Regional Aviation Security Conference (RAVSECC) today, Ravi said, “India has recently commission an ICAO study for restructure ad systemic improvement in our security organization in view of emerging developments in Aviation Security scenario.”
The objective of the Conference is to endorse the declaration on security adopted in the 37th International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly and also to review the developments taking place in the field of aviation security in the countries of this region. The Conference is being organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.
Recently, the Indian aviation security systems were reviewed at the highest level and were found to be well-defined and complete. The legislative framework is being strengthened by adopting new Aviation Security Rules. The Indian Government has taken up the process of restructuring of BCAS to enhance the oversight capability and also to strengthen all aspects of BCAS. International Security consultants from ICAO have been engaged to study the Indian Aviation Security System for making further improvements to the aviation security in general and restructuring of the BCAS in particular.
Beefing Up Security
Airport security is being reviewed in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs and other Intelligence Agencies and various proposals to improve the security are under active consideration. Anti-hijacking Amendment Bill prescribing death penalty, in place of life imprisonment, for the offence of aircraft hijacking has already been introduced in the Parliament. Passenger facilitation is also being given equal importance in the process of beefing up of security.
India’s initiative to hold RAVSECC along with participation from other international agencies/organizations has resolved India’s commitment for regional cooperation among the nations as aviation security is dependent on the overall security scenario in the world. Further, India is committed to offer technical and other logistical assistance to the needy states in the field of ‘Aviation Security’. India has specifically implemented all the ICAO’s security standards and recommended practices and in several aspects India has done much more than the prescribed basic minimum standards.
The ICAO audit team has recently conducted security audit, under the Universal Security Audit Programme(USAP), of Indian aviation security and there were no major issues. The audit team found that India is one among the top few countries, who have complied with all the global standards in aviation security in the aviation industry today.
Delegates from 16 countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and India International Organizations like Airport Council International, European Commission, International Air Transport Association, Department of Transport-UK, Transport Security Administration, USA are attending the Conference.
Airline industry in India
Airline industry in India has grown by about 400 per cent in the last seven years. With a domestic passenger base of over 50 million, India now ranks fourth after USA, China and Japan. It is the fastest growing and ninth largest aviation market in the world. It is estimated that the travel of international passengers to and from India would grow to the tune of 50 million by the year 2015. India’s domestic passenger growth is expected to continue to grow at the rate of 9 to 10 per cent to reach a level of 180 million passengers by the year 2015 and 270-300 million by 2020.
In 2010, India has managed to achieve a growth of about 19 per cent in domestic passenger traffic over 2009. Air navigation services of 2.8 million sq nautical miles provided by India have helped the development of 90 international and 120 domestic air routes.
“Improvement of infrastructure and the need for increased trained manpower for surveillance has been identified as one of our main challenges. By middle of next year all six of our largest metro cities would have brand new airports with capacity to manage this growth till at least next decade,” Ravi added.
Strategic Airport Security Objectives
India would soon modernize about 50 of its non-metro airports. “Oversight for safe operations is a key priority and we are currently in the process of a double fold increase in technical manpower in our DGCA set up. We are also in process of setting up an independent Civil Aviation Authority. India is amongst the few countries which have established Airport Economic Regulatory Authority which is providing valuable service to the airport sector,” Ravi said.
“India will continue to fully support ICAO’s endeavors to promote understanding, friendship and peace amongst the nations and people of the world besides promoting economic development, trade and tourism throughout the world,” he said.
Aviation Security has been identified by ICAO as one of the three major strategic objectives. India has noted that during recent times ICAO is instituting organizational reforms to increase its effectiveness and efficiency to enable the organisation to face new challenges of technological, economic, social and legal nature.
Aviation Security Framework
Member States of ICAO have greatly benefitted from modernized aviation security standards laid by ICAO which are audited and enforced across the globe. Through audits and technical assistance ICAO has provided a basic platform to build a robust aviation security framework. “We wholeheartedly welcome these measures and commit to extend necessary support to ICAO in implementing these reforms. We also support USAP and commit to fund all Aviation Security programme through ICAO. India has done well in the first USAP audit conducted by ICAO. The second round is under way,” Ravi added.
The minister cautioned, “Over the years aviation has become a soft target for terrorists and extremists. Any attack on aviation generates a lot of media interest and helps the terrorist groups to achieve their objective of getting maximum publicity. Securing Aviation is a complex business. The dichotomy of stringent security measures vis-a-vis the demand for efficient passenger facilitation need to be managed properly. While fully sympathetic to the demands of the industry and passengers for better facilitation we need to place the security of aviation as our top most priority.”
India has a huge potential of aviation as a key driver of economy. Development of infrastructure, generation of employment, promotion of tourism, establishing international and domestic connectivity, movement of cargo etc. are some of benefits of aviation which have just started positively impacting its economy.
The last thing India wants is any disruption or interference in the orderly operation of domestic and international aviation in this region. Aviation Security unlike aviation safety is an extremely dynamic entity. The threats ,risks and challenges change and grow very fast leaving India with very little time to react and put corrective measures. The only way to hope for a secure aviation is to think ahead in this game, plan and be prepared for any and every eventuality.
