???? [15th December, 2017] In
exercise of the powers conferred by Section 42 of the Airports Authority of
India Act, 1994 (55 of 1994) and in pursuance of Rule 92 of the Aircraft Rules,
1937, and in supersession of the Airports Authority of India (General
Management, Entry for Ground Handling Services) Regulations, 2007 except as
respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the
Central Government hereby makes the following regulations for ground handling
at Indian airports, namely? (1)
These regulations may be called
the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Ground Handling Services) Regulations,
2017. (2)
They shall come into force on the date of
their publication in the Official Gazette. (3)
They shall apply to all Civil Airports and
Civil Enclaves in the country. In
these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,? (a)
?apron? means a defined area of an airport
intended to accommodate aircraft for the purpose of loading or unloading
passengers or cargo, refuelling, parking or maintenance; (b)
?civil enclave? means the area, if any,
allotted at an airport belonging to any armed forces of the Union of India, for
use by persons availing of any air transport services from such airport or for
the handling of baggage or cargo by such service, and includes land comprising
of any building and structure on such area; (c)
?ground handling? means services necessary
for an aircraft's arrival at, and departure from, an airport other than air
traffic control and it includes? (i)
ramp handling including activities as
specified in Schedule I; (ii)
traffic handling including activities as
specified in Schedule II; and (iii)
any other activity specified by the Central
Government from time to time; (d)
?Ground Handling Agency? means an entity
established for the purpose of providing Ground Handling Service at airport,
duly certified by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security; (e)
?maneuvering area? means the part of an
airport or an aerodrome or civil enclave to be used for take-off, landing and
taxing of aircraft but does not include apron; (f)
?movement area? means part of an airport or
an aerodrome or civil enclave intended for surface movement of aircraft
including the maneuvering area and apron; (g)
?regular employee? means a person employed
and paid for a regular work directly by the employer without the intervention
of a contractor; and does not include contract labourers as defined in the
Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (37 of 1970); (h)
?royalty? means compensation, consideration
or fee paid for providing ground handling services at an airport payable to the
airport operator in addition to applicable land or space rentals; (i)
?Schedule? means the Schedule annexed to
these regulations; (j)
?self-handling? means the ground handling
services relating to its own aircraft or helicopter by an airline or helicopter
operator or its 100% owned subsidiary through its own regular employees, using
equipment owned or taken on lease; (k)
?Terminal Building? means the building or
area of the Airport or Civil Enclave which is used for embarkation or
disembarkation or processing of passengers; (a)
All domestic scheduled airline operators and
scheduled helicopter operators will be free to carry out self-handling at all
airports including Civil Enclaves. (b)
A foreign airline may undertake self-handling
in respect of passenger and baggage handling activities excluding security
functions listed out in Para 1 of AVSEC Order 03/2009 [enclosed as Annexure-I]
at the airport terminals restricted to the passenger check-in at pre security
hold area, at all the airports except Civil Enclaves or Joint User Defence
Airfields. (c)
At the cargo terminals except Civil Enclaves
or Joint User Defence Airfields, all cargo aircraft may undertake self handling
excluding security functions listed out in Para 1 of AVSEC Order 03/2009
[Annexure-I]. (d)
At all airports having annual passenger
through put of 10 million passengers per annum or above, the airport operator
shall ensure that there will be three ground handling agencies including that
of the Airport Operator or its Joint Venture or its 100% owned subsidiary, a
Joint Venture or a subsidiary of Air India and any other ground handling
agencies appointed by the airport operator through a transparent bidding
process. (e)
At all airports having annual passenger
through put of less than 10 million passengers per annum, based on the traffic
output and airside and terminal building capacity, the airport operator may
decide on the number of ground handling agencies, not exceeding three,
including that of? (i)
the airport operator or its Joint Venture or
its 100% owned subsidiary; (ii)
a Joint Venture or a subsidiary of Air India; (iii)
any other ground handling agency appointed by
the airport operator through a transparent bidding process. (f)
A ground handling agency, with foreign
ownership of 50% or more of its paid-up capital shall not be allowed to
undertake ground handling activities at Civil Enclaves or Joint User Defence
Airfields. (g)
At all airports, the Joint Venture or the
subsidiary of Air India shall match the lowest royalty paid by the other ground
handling agencies. (h)
The provisions of clauses (d), (e) and (g) of
this regulation relating to Air India will be in force so long the Air India
remains a Public Sector Undertaking and in case of its disinvestment, the above
said clauses will continue with respect to Air India at all such airports where
it functions as a ground handling agency, till such time the next bid takes
place for that airport. (i)
No royalty is payable in case of
self-handling. (j)
All airlines, Joint Ventures, subsidiaries,
ground handling agencies shall enter into an agreement with the airport
operator for the satisfactory observance of performance standards as may be
mutually acceptable. Except
as provided in Rule 90 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, the entities permitted to
undertake ground handling services at airports shall also be allowed to enter
and remain in the terminal building or movement area. (1)
(a) All ground handling services shall be
provided only through the regular employees of the entities in accordance with
Regulation 3. (b) ? Hiring of
employees through handling contractor or manpower supplier shall not be
permitted. (2)
Airlines and agencies allowed to carry out
ground-handling services at airports shall ensure compliance to security
provisions as required under the law. (3)
The ground handling agencies, unless they
acquire the status of regulated agent or otherwise duly authorised to do so by
the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, shall not undertake the security
functions listed out in Para 1 of AVSEC Order 03/2009 [Annexure-I], as modified
from time to time. (a)
At all airports, in order to overcome space
and time constraints, the airport operator shall provide adequate number of
Common User Terminal Equipment and Common User Self Service. (b)
At all airports having annual passenger
through put of 1.5 million passengers per annum or above, the airport operator
shall provide adequate number of Baggage Reconciliation System: Provided
that where the annual passenger through put is less than 1.5 million passengers
per annum, the airport operator may decide the provisions relating to Baggage
Reconciliation System. (c)
?All
agencies concerned shall ensure the use of state-of-art equipment and best
practices in line with the International Air Transport Association Airport
Handling Manual. (d)
As far as feasible, the airport operator
shall provide adequate parking space for the equipment required for ground
handling purpose, within the airport premises on mutually agreed terms and
conditions. (a)
The entities which are not permitted in these
regulations and are currently carrying out the ground handling activities at
any airport or Civil Enclave shall be allowed exit time of 240 days from the
date of publication of these regulations. (b)
The Airport Entry Permits in respect of the
above entities referred to in clause (a) shall continue to be issued till 240
days from the date of publication of these regulations. (c)
All airport operators shall appoint the
requisite number of ground handling agencies within a period of 120 days from
the date of publication of these regulations. SCHEDULE I [See Regulation 2(c)(i)] Ramp Handling 1. Aircraft handling: 1.1 Attendance 1.2 Marshalling 1.3 Parking 1.4 Starting 1.5 Safety measures 1.6 Mooring of Aircraft 1.7 Ramp to flight deck communication 2. Aircraft servicing: 2.1 Liaison for fuelling and defueling 2.2 Liaison with suppliers for replenishing of oil and
other fluids 2.3 Cabin Equipment 2.4 Routine & Non-Routing services 2.5 Cooling & Heating 2.6 Storage of cabin material 3. Aircraft Cleaning: 3.1 Exterior cleaning 3.2 Interior cleaning 3.3 Toilet service 3.4 Water service 4. Loading or Unloading: 4.1 Loading and unloading of passenger baggage 4.2 Transhipment of passenger baggage 4.3 Operation of Loading/Unloading equipment 4.4 Position and removing of passenger stairs/bridges 4.5 Emplane/Deplane passengers 4.6 Break/Make-up of baggages 4.7 Bussing of passengers/crew 4.8 Bulk loading/unloading of baggage 4.9 Catering ramp handling 4.10 Load control 4.11 Communication 4.12 Flight operations 4.13 Crew administration 5. Cargo handling services: 5.1 Loading, off-loading, export, import and transhipment
cargo on/from the aircraft. 5.2 Mail handling services 5.3 Operate/provide/arrange essential equipments for
handling of cargo 5.4 Transhipment of cargo 5.5 Palletisation/containerization of cargo 5.6 Break-up/Make-up of cargo container/unit load device 5.7 Bulk loading or unloading 5.8 Cargo and mail handling 5.9 Customs control 5.10 Documentation handling 5.11 Physical handling outbound/inbound 5.12 Transfer/transit cargo 5.13 Post office mail 6. Support Services: 6.1 Accommodation 6.2 Automation/Computer systems 6.3 Unit load device (ULD) control 6.4 Fuel farm (Depot) 6.5 Ramp fuelling/defueling operations 6.6 Surface transport 6.7 Catering services ? liaison and administration 7. Aircraft Maintenance: 7.1 Routine services 7.2 Replenishing of oils and fuels 7.3 Non-routine services 7.4 Material handling 7.5 Parking and hanger space SCHEDULE II [See Regulations 2(c)(ii)] Traffic Handling 1. Terminal Services: 1.1 Handling documents and load control 1.2 Passenger and baggage handling at the airport
terminals 1.3 Cargo handling services at the airport terminals 1.4 Mail handling services at the airport terminal 1.5 Traffic services at the airport terminals including
passenger check-in 2. Flight Operations: 2.1 Inform the carrier of any known project affecting the
operational services and facilities made available to its aircraft in the areas
of responsibility 2.2 Flight preparation at the airport of departure 2.3 Flight preparation at a point different form the
airport of departure 2.4 In-flight assistance 2.5 Post flight activities 2.6 In-flight re-dispatch 2.7 Communication system associated with Ground Handling 2.8 Material handling 3. Surface Transport: 3.1 Arrangement for the transportation of
passengers/baggages and cargo between separate terminals at the same airport. 3.2 Arrangements for passengers or crew transport
together with their baggage between airport and city or other agreed points 4. Representational Services: 4.1 Liaison with local authorities 4.2 Information to interested parties, movement of
carrier aircraft 4.3 Disbursement of payment on behalf of the carriers at
all airports 4.4 Supervision and administration services ANNEXURE 1 RESTRICTED NO. CAS-6(1)/2008/Div.I (Sec.functions) BUREAU OF CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY (MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION) GOVERNMENT OF INDIA A WING (I-III Floor), JANPATH BHAVAN JANPATH, NEW DELHI Dated: 21-8-2009 AVSEC Order No. 03/2009 Sub:
Security Functions to be carried out by aircraft operators. In
exercise of powers conferred by Section 5-A of Aircraft Act, 1934 delegated to
him vide Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation Notification No. 1797,
dated July 3, 1997, read with Para 4 of DGCA Circular No. 9/1/2002-IR, dated
28/9/07; and Regulations 6 and 7 of the Airports Authority of India (General
Management, Entry for Ground Handling Services) Regulations, 2007 issued vide
Gazette of India (Extraordinary) Notification NO. AAI/LEGAL/GHREG/2007 dated
18-10-2007, the Commissioner of Security (Civil Aviation), Bureau of Civil
Aviation Security (BCAS), for the purpose of securing the safety of aircraft
operations, directs that the following activities pertaining to aircraft
operations shall be treated as Aircraft Operators' Aviation Security Functions: (i)
Access control to the aircraft; (ii)
Aircraft security search/Security check
during normal as well as bomb threat situation; (iii)
Screening of registered/unaccompanied
baggage, cargo, mail and company stores etc.; (iv)
Surveillance of screened baggage till
acceptance at check-in counters; (v)
Security control of the checked baggage from
the point it is taken into the charge of aircraft operator till loading into
aircraft; (vi)
Passengers baggage
reconciliation/identification; (vii)
Security of baggage tag, boarding cards and
flight documents; (viii)
Security of
mishandled/unaccompanied/transit/transfer baggage; (ix)
Secondary checks at ladder point of aircraft; (x)
Security of catering items from pre-setting
stage till loading into aircraft; (xi)
Security control of express cargo, courier
bags, cargo, company stores, parcels, mail bags and escorting from city side up
to aircraft; (xii)
Receiving, carriage and retrieval of security
removed articles; (xiii)
Any other security functions notified by the
Commissioner from time to time. 2.???? Despite the
fact that the above activities are carried out on ground at the airports,
keeping in view the AVSEC requirements under the current surcharged security
scenario, these AVSEC functions cannot be mixed-up with other ground handling
activities, and these AVSEC functions shall not be allowed by an aircraft
operator/airport operator to be undertaken by a Ground Handling Agency. 3. ??? The above
mentioned security functions shall be carried out by the concerned airlines
security personnel who possess all competencies required to perform their
duties and are appropriately trained and certified according to the
requirements of the approved Security Programme of respective Aircraft Operator
and the National Civil Aviation Security Programme of India. 4. ??? Foreign
airlines may enter into agreement with Indian Air carriers having international
operation from that airport only after specific approval from the BCAS in each
case. 5. ??? As approved
by Ministry of Civil Aviation (Gol) vide Letter No. AV-24013/004/2007-AAI,
dated 20th March 2008, the In-line screening of hold baggage to be transported
by an aircraft operator from the airports in India, shall be carried out by
trained and BCAS certified screeners of respective airport operator or NACIL or
their JV at airports having In-line baggage Inspection System. 6. ??? Screening and
security control of Cargo consignments may also be undertaken by trained and
BCAS certified screeners of Regulated Agents approved by the BCAS in accordance
with the instructions issued by the BCAS from time to time. 7. ??? The
responsibility for all security related functions shall be with the airlines
concerned. For this purpose, a security coordinator shall be designated by the
respective airlines at each airport from where they shall have operations. 8. ??? This order
supersedes all instructions (except BCAS Cir. No. 4/2007) on the subject and
shall come into force with immediate effect. Violation of this order will
attract legal action under Section 11-A of Aircraft Act, 1934. This
issues with the approval of Commissioner of Security (CA). Sd/- (M. Malaviya) I.P.S Addl. Commissioner of Security (CA) Distribution: As per list attached. [1] Ministry of Civil Aviation, Noti. No. F. No.
AV-24011/8/2017-AAI-MOCA, dated December 15, 2017, published in the Gazette of
India, Extra., Part II, Section 4, dated 20th December, 2017, pp. 8-14, No. 476Ministry of Civil Aviation (Ground
Handling Services) Regulations, 2017[1]