Draft National Air Sports Policy

Context

Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation released a draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP) for public feedback. The draft policy is available on the website of the Civil Aviation Ministry.

Key-Features NASP 2022

• NASP 2022 covers sports like aerobatics, aeromodelling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft, ballooning, drones, gliding, hang gliding and paragliding; microlighting and paramotoring; skydiving and vintage aircraft.
• The vision is to make India one of the top air sports nations by 2030. 

  • The mission is to provide a safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India.

• NASP 2022 seeks to leverage India’s huge potential for air sports given its large geographical expanse, diverse topography and fair weather conditions.
• An Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) will be established as the apex governing body. Associations for each air sport will handle day to day activities e.g. Paragliding Association of India or Skydiving Association of India etc.
• The air sports associations shall be accountable to ASFI with respect to the regulatory oversight and for providing safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable conduct of their respective air sport.
• ASFI shall represent India at FAI and other global platforms related to air sports. Greater participation and success of Indian sportspersons in global air sports events will be facilitated.
• Domestic design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment will be promoted in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
• The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland is the world governing body for air sports. 

• • All competitions in India will be conducted as per the guidelines laid down by FAI.

• Air sports by their very nature involve a higher level of risk than flying a regular aircraft. NASP 2022 places strong focus on ensuring international best practices in safety.

Objectives of NASP 2022

• Draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP 2022) aims to promote the country’s air sports sector, by way of making it safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable, and sustainable.
• The potential of Air Sports: 

  • India has the potential to be among the leading nations in the world of air sports due to the following-

    • India has a large geographical expanse, diverse topography, and fair-weather conditions.
    • It has a large population, especially the youth.
    • It has a growing culture for adventure sports and aviation.

• Other than the direct revenue from air sports activities, the multiplier benefits in terms of growth of travel, tourism, infrastructure and local employment, especially in hilly areas of the country, are several times greater.

  • The creation of air sports hubs across the country will also bring in air sports professionals and tourists from across the world.