AIR OPERATOR CERTIFICATE

1.. Air Operator Certificate to operate Scheduled Air Transport Services in pursuance to sub rule
(1) of Rule 134 of Aircraft Rules, 1937.
2.. The Air Operator Certificate for Scheduled Commuter Operations shall be granted in two
categories i.e. Scheduled Commuter (Small) for aircraft AUW upto 5700kg and Scheduled
Commuter Operator (Large) for aircraft AUW more than 5700 kg and upto 40,000 kg. In case of
mixed fleet of aircraft.
3.. An applicant desirous of obtaining an AOC for Scheduled Commuter Air Transport Services
shall apply for an initial No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
4.. The initial NOC shall initially be valid for a period of three years from the date of issue and
shall stand automatically cancelled if the applicant does not take effective steps to obtain the AOC
for Scheduled Commuter Air Transport Services within this period.
5.. The Ministry of Civil Aviation may, however, extend the validity of the NOC on genuine
grounds for a period of six months at a time against payment of a fee of Rs. 50,000 .
6.. The operator shall have technical personnel to oversee the Continued Airworthiness and
Maintenance including contractual maintenance, as required under CAR M.
7..The operator shall have adequate arrangement for ground handling, preparation of load
and trim sheet, flight dispatch and passenger/cargo handling.
18..The operator shall regularly carry out monitoring of Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) readout as
part of his accident and incident prevention programme and to ensure compliance of operating
procedures.

8..The applicant shall submit the following documents for issuance of Air Operator Certificate:-
i. A current comprehensive insurance policy covering Aircraft, Passengers & Cargo, Third Party
liabilities, Crewmembers, Applicant’s staff & general properties, Victim Protection Plan in case of
an accident.
ii. List of Board of Directors.
iii. Copy of valid C of R, C of A and ARC of the aircraft.
iv. Any other documents that may be required by DGCA.

9..The Air Operator Certificate shall be initially issued for a period of three years and
may be extended for a period of another two years

10..the operator shall get their flight schedule approved by DGCA at least 30 days in advance

11..Operations Specifications for the aircraft have been issued by DGCA.

12..The Air Operator Certificate shall be displayed in the office of the Accountable
Manager and a copy of the AOC along with the Operations Specifications shall be
carried on board the aircraft when operating such services.

13..The Air Operator Certificate issued to a Scheduled Commuter Operator shall not be
transferable.

14..The operator shall apply for renewal of AOC at least 60 days prior to expiry along with the
followings:
i. Appendix L of Air Operator Certification Manual along with requisite documents.
ii. Fee for renewal Rs. 500,000/- (Rupees five lacs only
15..The operator shall submit a formal application with dully filled Appendices A/B/C of Air
Operator Certification Manual along with updated manuals for the purpose of certification(AOC)
for the new type of aircraft as per Air Operator Certification Manual.

16..The request for deletion of any aircraft from the AOC shall be submitted along with the copy of
certificate of de-registration in respect of the aircraft.

17.. The process of leasing has been detailed in Aircraft Leasing Manual (CAP 3200).
15..STATE OF REGISTRY:-- The State of Registry is the State on whose register the aircraft
is entered. TheState of Registry is responsible for the safety oversight and airworthiness
standards for aircraft on its register, including those aircraft that are leased. The person or
organisation to which the aircraft is registered must ensure that the aircraft comply with all
applicable requirements of the State of Registry.
CAP3300(AIR OPERATOR CERTIFICATION MANUAL)
1..Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 - Requirements for Grant of Permit for Scheduled
Operations.
2..Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 3, Series 'C' Part II - Minimum Requirements for Grant of
Permission and to Operate Scheduled Air Transport Services.
3..The purpose of an AOP/ AOC is to certify that specified commercial air transport operations are
authorized by DGCA .
The DGCA is authorized to suspend or cancel an AOP issued by him, if one or more of the
conditions stipulated therein is breached or not maintained to the same level as demonstrated at
the initial certification.
The application for the issue of an AOP/ AOC must be prepared in accordance with the requirements
prescribed in Appendix A of this manual.
Suspension/ Cancellation or Revocation of AOP/ AOC
.1 Failure on the part of the operator to comply with the applicable requirements may result in
either the imposing of administrative penalties or suspension/ cancellation or revocation of the
AOP/ AOC.

.2 An operator should note that in the event of a suspension/ cancellation or revocation of an AOP/
AOC, the operator needs to be recertified, with a process as determined by the DGCA.

.3 An operator should note that even if an enforcement action was not taken by the DGCA, and
operations are conducted in breach of a condition or conditions of the AOP/ AOC, such operations
are construed to be unauthorised and the operator is liable for enforcement action by the DGCA,
on detection of such occurrences even belatedly.

.4 The guidance for enforcement is given in detail in the Enforcement Policy & Procedures
Manual.
AOC contain five phases:-
1. Pre-application
2. Formal application
3. Document evaluation
4. Demonstration and inspection prior to certification
5. Certification

1..Pre-application. During this phase, the applicant conducts initial studies, prepares plans,
makes inquiries from the DGCA in regard to the opportunities available under the existing air
services agreements and seeks advice as to the validity of different proposals.
The pre-application phase completes with the assessment concerning the financial, economic and
legal aspects (issuance of NOC by Ministry of Civil Aviation).
2..Formal application. During this phase, the applicant is required to submit the complete
application (Appendix A) to the DGCA together with the fees and relevant documents to support
the intended operation.

3..Document evaluation. During this phase, the DGCA will undertake a detailed scrutiny of the
applicant’s manuals and other documents, which accompanied the formal application.

4..Demonstration and Inspection prior to certification. During this phase, the applicant
needs to demonstrate to the DGCA that the applicant is in aposition to conduct the proposed
operations in accordance with the procedures detailed in the documents/ manuals reviewed during
the previous phase utilizing the personnel/ facilities/ equipment identified in the formal
application.
5..Certification. When all the previous phases have been satisfactorily completed, the DGCA
will issue the Air Operator’s Permit and the associated Operations Specifications.

4..An Air Operator Permit will not be issued until the DGCA is fully convinced and satisfied
beyond any doubt .
5..The recommendation for the issue of the AOP will be made by the Project Manager who is in
charge of the certification process after receiving required recommendations made by Principal
Flight Operations Inspector and Principal Airworthiness Inspector.
6.. The DGCA Inspectors will be using the relevant checklists to evaluate the applicant’s
arrangements for the proposed operations during the Documentation Evaluation Phase and
Demonstration and Inspection phase prior to Certification Phase.
7..There are three distinct activities, which are conducted during Pre-application phase.
.1 Pre- Application - Statement of Intent
.2 Pre-Application Meeting
.3 Post Pre-Application Meeting
8.. The operator shall ensure that the security manual is developed and approved by BCAS.
9.. Air Operator Permit to form a part of the Operations Manual.
10.. Certified true copy of an AOP along with Operations Specification shall be carried on board
each Aircraft operated by the operator.
11.. An applicant who is a holder of an AOP shall apply for the renewal, to the DGCA at least a
minimum of 90 days prior to the date of expiry.
12.. DGCA will renew the AOP on the basis of the satisfactory Audit Report.
13.. Renewal of AOP will be denied in case the AOP holder fails to come up with adequate
corrective actions to the best satisfaction of DGCA.
14.. A formal Inspection shall be carried out by the Inspectors prior to renewal of AOP.
15.. An AOP after issue requires renewal prior to expiry of the validity specified thereon.
16.. The certification of an air operator shall be carried out by an Air Operator’s Certification
(AOC) Team.
17..The AOC team shall be headed by the Project Manager who shall either be a Deputy CFOI/
Deputy Director General (from Airworthiness field).
18.. The validity of the permission for import/acquisition of each aircraft shall be one year
which may be extended for another 6 months on genuine grounds.
 Safety Management System some important points which is confusion points

The safety manager shall inter alia:

1.. Ensure that processes needed for the SMS are developed, implemented adhered to and
maintained;

2.. Report to the Accountable Executive on the performance of the SMS and on any need for
improvement; and
3.. Ensure safety promotion throughout the organization.

2…A service provider shall identify the safety accountabilities, responsibilities and authorities of
all
members of management as well as of all employees, irrespective of other responsibilities.
3… The safety objectives should be linked to the safety performance indicators, safety
performance targets and action plans of the service provider’s SMS.
4… The service provider shall identify someone from management to be the safety manager who
shall be the individual and focal point responsible for the implementation and maintenance of an
effective SMS.
5… The emergency response plan shall be such so as to ensure orderly and efficient transition
from normal to emergency operations and the return to normal operations.
6… The SMS implementation plan shall be endorsed by senior management of the organization.
7...Generic guidelines for SMS documentation development and maintenance can be found in
Attachment H to ICAO Annex 6, Part I, and Attachment G to ICAO Annex 6, Part III, Operator’s
Flight Safety Documents System.
8...A service provider’s SDCPS shall include reactive, proactive and predictive methods of safety
data collection.
9...Formal means of safety data collection shall include mandatory, voluntary and confidential
reporting systems.
10…SMS shall be analysed in terms of probability and severity of occurrence, and assessed for
their tolerability.
11...The organization shall define the levels of management with authority to make safety risk
tolerability decisions. And The organization shall define safety controls for each safety risk
assessed as tolerable.
12…Safety assurance processes shall apply to an SMS whether the activities and/or operations
are accomplished internally or are outsourced.
13…A phased-in approach involving four phases over a period of three years from the date of
issuance of this CAR may be adopted by organisations.