Raviprasad Kamila / The Hindu

• Report to be submitted to authorities in Delhi
• The inspection was mainly on safety aspects at the airport
• Licensing depends on fulfillment of standards laid down by ICAO

Mangalore, Aug 4: A three-member team of senior officials under the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation was at Bajpe (Mangalore) airport of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for four days for assessing the standard of the airport for recommending it for aerodrome licensing, according to official sources.

The sources told The Hindu that the team inspected the facilities at the airport from July 31 to August 3. The team left the airport on Friday. It included two officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Delhi, and one senior official of the AAI, Delhi.

The team mainly inspected the safety aspects at the airport. The DGCA officials are likely to submit their report to the DGCA, the aerodrome licensing authority.

The licensing depends on the airports fulfilling the standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) under the specified category of airports.

The sources said that earlier the government was not serious about issuing aerodrome licences to airports under their control. Now, it has started taking initiative to make Government airports function on a par with private ones.

If an airport has to get a licence, it has to maintain the prescribed standards. Thus, licensing would make the airports maintain prescribed standards, especially related to safety aspects in respective categories, sources said.