Centre Unveils Draft Aircraft Rules

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified the draft Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2025, seeking stakeholder comments by August 10, 2025.

The rules are proposed to be made in the exercise of powers conferred under provisions of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, which came into force earlier this year and replaced the British-era Aircraft Act, 1934.

The draft rules seek to repeal:

• Part IX of the Aircraft Rules, 1920;
• Aircraft Rules, 1937; and
• Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and Licence Rules, 2025.

As per the rules, an aircraft may be registered in India in either Category A or Category B. Category A would now expressly cover aircraft wholly owned by companies or entities registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) for undertaking leasing of aircraft and carrying on business in India.

Further, changes are proposed to the minimum educational qualifications required for certain licences. For instance, a person can be granted a commercial pilot’s licence, an airline transport pilot’s licence, or a flight radio telephone operator’s licence after having passed Class Ten plus Two, even without physics and mathematics.

Several provisions, including those relating to deregistration and export of aircraft, remain unchanged.