India: Aviation

Airline insolvency presents a particularly difficult problem for insolvency law because the assets most critical to keeping the airline operational may not belong to the airline at all. Aircraft are frequently held under operating leases. When an airline enters insolvency, therefore, the resolution professional (“RP”) may be required to preserve the corporate debtor as a going concern while the aircraft lessor seeks to enforce its contractual and international-law rights to recover possession of its aircraft.

Foreign capital can now reach almost every layer of an Indian airline’s balance sheet, but control cannot. Every foreign strategic investor and private equity sponsor must internalize before drafting term sheets for a domestic carrier. The percentage of equity a foreign party may hold and the degree of control it may exercise are governed by two separate legal regimes that do not move together, and the gap between them is where most aviation deals in India succeed or unravel.

Aircraft maintenance reserve clauses and redelivery conditions are the two provisions most likely to trigger multi-million dollar disputes at the end of an aircraft lease agreement. This article examines the mechanics of Maintenance Reserve Funds, explores escrow versus lessor-retained custody structures, and provides detailed guidance on drafting quantified redelivery conditions that eliminate ambiguity when exposure is highest.

India's Ministry of Civil Aviation has introduced the Aircraft (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules, 2026, establishing a comprehensive certification-driven framework for transporting hazardous materials by air.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (“CBIC”), through Notification No. 31/2026-Central Excise dated 15 June 2026, has amended Notification No. 08/2026-Central Excise dated 26 March 2026 to increase the effective rate of Special Additional Excise Duty (“SAED”) applicable on exports of Aviation Turbine Fuel (“ATF”). Effective from 16 June 2026, the duty has been increased from Rs 9.5 per litre to Rs 12.5 per litre.

International aviation services operate within a complex, multidimensional structure which resultsfrom the intersection of treaty obligations, bilateral agreements, and, most importantly, domestic regulations.

Some contracts require more than mutual assent, they require regulatory grace. Although Indian aviation contracts, particularly aircraft lease, wet lease, maintenance, and engine support agreements...

Aviation Round -Up 2025.

Recent large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations in December 2025 brought unprecedented attention to airline operations, regulatory oversight, and passenger rights in India.