Various Civil Aviation Organizations/Agencies in India

So now you must be a bit familiar with Air Traffic Control. But have you ever thought about who sets these objectives/goals and how to achieve these objectives? Obviously, there must some global organization which governs and administers the work and policies related to civil aviation. Let’s start with this international organization which is known as ICAO. Then we will move to Indian organizations and agencies which are directly or indirectly involved in the process of Air Traffic Control.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO):

ICAO is a United Nations (UN) agency set up in 1944. The ICAO works closely with its member states (read as countries) and other civil aviation groups (like IATA, IFATCA, CANSO) to finalize the Standards and Recommended Practices (which are called SARPs) to bring uniformity in regulations and operations followed by individual countries. To efficiently manage civil aviation around the globe, ICAO has seven regional offices.
Some Facts about ICAO:

1. Vision: Achieve sustainable growth of the global civil aviation system
2. Established: 1944
3. Member states: 191
4. Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
5. President of the Council: Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano
6. Secretary General of the Organization: Juan Carlos Salazar
7. Website: www.icao.int

Various Civil Aviation Organizations/Agencies in India

Let’s move further and know about the Ministry of Civil Aviation and other Indian organizations or agencies that work in tandem to provide safe skies to the fliers. These organizations are the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India, and Indian Air Force.

1. Ministry of Civil Aviation:

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) formulates national policies and programs for the development and regulation of the Civil Aviation sector in India. MoCA exercises administrative control over attached and autonomous organizations like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy and affiliated Public Sector Undertakings like National Aviation Company of India Limited, Airports Authority of India, and Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited.

Details:
Minister of Civil Aviation: Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia
Address: Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi-110003
Website: http://www.civilaviation.gov.in/

2. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA):

DGCA is a civil aviation regulatory body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). The DGCA is responsible for implementing, controlling, and supervising airworthiness standards, licensing of ATCOs and pilots, safety operations, and crew training in India. Some of the ATC-related functions of DGCA are as:

• Certification of aerodromes and CNS/ATM facilities;
• Licensing of air traffic controllers and conducting examinations and checks for that purpose;
• Conducting an investigation into accidents and serious incidents and taking accident prevention measures including formulation and implementation of Safety Aviation Management Programmes;
• DGCA issues a YA number (read as an authority number) to Non-scheduled flights with foreign registration or Non-scheduled flights by Indian operators to destinations outside India. Without a valid YA number, such flights cannot be operated.

Details:
DGCA: Arun Kumar (Director General),
Head Office: AurbindoMarg, Opp. Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi 110 003, INDIA
Tel No. : 91-11-24622495
Website: http://dgca.nic.in/

3. Airports Authority of India (AAI):

Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a Mini-Ratna Category-1 Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the aegis of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. AAI came into existence on April 1, 1995, by merging the erstwhile International Airport Division (IAD) and National Airport Division (NAD). It was constituted by an Act of Parliament.
AAI is a major Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) in the Asia Pacific Region. It provides air navigation services over 2.8 million square nautical miles of air space. Apart from air space management, it manages most of India’s airports, a total of 125 in number.
The ATC related functions of AAI are as follows:

•  Design, Development, Operation, and Maintenance of international and domestic airports and civil enclaves which include 18 International Airports, 7 Customs Airports, 78 Domestic Airports, and 26 Civil Enclaves at Defense airfields (Some of the major airports not managed by AAI are Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru).
• Control and Management of the Indian airspace extending beyond the territorial limits of the country, as accepted by ICAO.
• Expansion and strengthening of operation area, viz. Runways, Aprons, Taxiway etc.
  d) Provision of Communication and Navigation aids, viz. ILS, DVOR, DME, Radar etc.

Details:
Chairman: Sanjeev Kumar
Head Office: Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi-110003
Website: http://www.aai.aero/

4. Indian Air Force (IAF):

In the context of civil aviation,

• IAF ensures that no unidentified aircraft enters in Indian Territory and in case some aircraft enters without due permission then IAF will take action as per Govt. of India’s directives.
• IAF also coordinates VIP movements such as those of the Indian President and Prime Minister.
• It also issues Air Defense Clearance (ADC) to all aircraft (scheduled or non-scheduled) that are taking off from Indian air space.
• When some major air force exercise takes place than usually one Air Force Officer is deputed at Area Control Centre (ACC) for coordination purposes.

Details:
Chief of Air Staff: Vivek Ram Chaudhari
Headquarter: New Delhi, India.
Website: http://indianairforce.nic.in/