India’s new ground handling policy, which was vehemently opposed by carriers, is likely to be deferred by six months according to Indian media reports. The Civil Aviation Ministry has reportedly sought Cabinet permission to advance the date of implementation from 1 January 2009 by six months. Some modifications have also been sought “inthe scope of work”.

The present policy seeks to eliminate all but three parties from ground handling: airport operator or a joint venture; subsidiaries of Nacil or its joint ventures; and service providers selected through competitive bidding. It would have covered metropolitan airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Private airlines had earlier asked the government for permission to partly retain ground handling facilities even after the new policy comes into effectto avoid revenue loss.