1. Introduction Government has reviewed the guidelines for operation of tourist charter flights to and from India and further liberalised the conditions for operating these flights subject to the condition that tourist charter flights will be permitted only for 'Inclusive Tour Package' (ITP).

2. Inclusive Tour Package (ITP) is defined as a round trip for a predetermined period for one or several pre-determined places charging an inclusive consolidated price for the airfare for all segments, hotel accommodation and other ground arrangement services like visit to tourist places.

3. Application For The Tourist Charter Flights

3.1 The application for operating inclusive tourist charter flights to India shall be submitted to the Director General of Civil Aviation (Attn: Deputy Director Air Transport: Fax No. 91 - 11 - 2462 8922) on the prescribed form (Appendix 'A') at least seven working days prior to the proposed date of operation of the first flight. Only an Indian Tour Operator recognised by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and cleared by the security agencies for obtaining flight clearances from DGCA can file the applications.

3.2 One or more than one tour operator can apply for the same tourist charter flight. In such a case, the application should clearly state the number of tourists booked by each tour operator on the flight and authorised signatory of each tour operator should jointly sign the application, as this information would be used while processing the applications for outbound tourist charter flights.

3.3 It may be noted that any application submitted with incomplete information would be summarily rejected. However, series of tourist charter flights (total duration not less than one month) operated by airlines approved by their DGCA for international passenger charter operations may be cleared without information relating to the registration of aircraft and name and nationality of pilot, provided that the application is submitted at least one month in advance and the aircraft is not capable of air dropping.

3.4 Application for operating outbound tourist charter flights from India with Indian registered aircraft may be submitted three working days prior to the proposed date of operation of the first flight along with additional information on the prescribed form (Appendix 'B'). However, in case any tour operator proposes to use an aircraft belonging to Indian scheduled airlines for outbound tourist charters, a notice period of seven working days will be required and the airline would be required to satisfy DGCA that there would be no cancellation or delay to the scheduled flights operated by him.

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