March 30 - Air Charter Service (ACS) ceo Justin Bowman has called for shorter lead times in obtaining vital charter flight permissions in certain regions at the recent Air Cargo India exhibition.
Bowman highlighted countries in which more than 24 hours of notice is required before obtaining permission.
"As an example, for an Indian landing permission you are lucky if you can get the OK to operate the charter flight in about three days. And to do that takes about 35-40 telephone calls to try and get it pushed through all the bureaucracy of the system," continued Bowman.
"What I would propose for such countries would be to have five or six designated hub airports, where the governments make it a standard operating procedure that a decision on whether permission is granted or denied can be made within 24 hours."
He concluded: "This would be of particular use during humanitarian efforts and could save vital time, therefore saving lives - in addition to aiding shippers, helping to keep industry moving and the economy running smoothly."
