India has climbed to the 48th position in the global aviation safety ranking by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday. Four years ago, the country was ranked at the 102nd position.
In the latest ICAO ranking, Singapore is at the top, followed by the UAE and South Korea at the second and third positions, respectively, the officials said. China is at the 49th place, they added.
Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken from November 9 to 16, 2022. On November 16, the DGCA said the audit was conducted in the areas of legislation, organisation, personal licensing, operations, airworthiness and aerodromes.
DGCA Chief Arun Kumar told media that the regulator has worked tirelessly to upgrade India’s safety ranking. India’s score in terms of effective implementation of key safety elements has improved to 85.49%, putting it ahead of China (49), Israel (50) and Turkey (54). India’s score in the 2018 Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme was 69.95%.
The higher ranking in Universal Safety Oversight Audit implies that India has improved its air safety processes. Better aviation safety helps carriers to expand faster in overseas markets as permissions for new services are easier to get.
