Cabinet approves signing of MoU between India, Singapore in the field of Civil Aviation

The objective of this MoU is to establish mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation, which will cover, to begin with, the airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

"This cooperation will be extended to other airports with mutual consent," read a government statement.

The salient features of the MoU include collaboration in Civil Aviation Sector in the areas of (a) Master-planning and design (b) Traffic development (c) Commercial development (d) Service quality improvement (e) Training and development (f) Cargo handling and Management (g) Maintenance, repair and overhaul (h) Operation and management and (i) any other areas with mutual consent.

Government of Singapore owns one of the best managed airports in the world, which has consistently maintained its ranking for last many years.

A need was felt that in order to ensure high standards of service at Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports, Airport Authority of India (AAI) may enter into operation and maintenance (O&M) contracts, either with or without the responsibility of maximization of non-aeronautical revenue in the terminal building (excluding land on city side and air side). The city side and airside will continue to be managed directly by AAI.

Globally, limited O&M contract models are prevalent for the entire airport operations. AAI has no previous experience in awarding O&M contract model of terminal buildings to other entities. In order to implement the decision, it was necessary to ensure that a suitable entity be engaged for undertaking the O&M contract at Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports.