India on Wednesday replaced the outdated 90-year-old ‘Aircraft Act of 1934’ with the ‘Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam 2024,’ establishing new regulations to protect passenger rights, as well as ease the policy environment to promote investment in the sector.

In a gazette notification, the Centre said provisions of the Act would come into force from January 1, 2025.

The Act was passed by Parliament during the Winter Session in 2024. It was presented by Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu.

Notably, the ‘Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam’ aims to create more efficient and safe air operations, while also providing a better consumer protection environment by ensuring higher service quality.

It aspires to create an “efficient online mechanism” to address passenger grievances, ensuring a time-bound response period.

Besides, the Act removes redundancies and provides effective regulatory powers to control areas such as air traffic management and the drone segment.

Also, it gives a regulatory framework to match India’s legislation with global standards, particularly in aircraft leasing, by easing regulations and establishing a welcoming environment for investment.

The Act seeks to promote aircraft manufacture in the country by regulating the design, assembly, technology, and other related aspects. 

Civil Aviation Minister Naidu, while introducing the bill, said it aims to regulate and control the design, manufacture, maintenance, possession, use, operation, sale, export, and import of aircraft, alongside other matters.

The predecessor, the Indian Aircraft Act, brought in 1934, went through several changes over the years; it was amended 21 times.