India: Aviation

Aircraft acquisitions and leasing transactions demand rigorous technical due diligence that extends beyond engineering inspections to encompass maintenance records, regulatory compliance, and legal documentation. How can buyers, lessors, and financiers effectively translate technical findings into contractual protections that preserve asset value and mitigate post-closing risks in an increasingly complex regulatory environment?

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau operates under India's Ministry of Civil Aviation, but questions arise about whether its institutional framework provides sufficient separation from the regulatory authority it may need to scrutinize. This analysis examines the 2025 Rules governing aircraft accident investigations and compares India's approach with international models that structurally separate investigators from regulators.

The article examines the near-automatic judicial treatment of exit documentation rights in Indian employment law and traces how the Bombay High Court's ruling in Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. v. Rahul Sudhindra Soni marks the emergence of a new doctrine - the consequential document doctrine, under which such entitlements are conditioned on a lawful and complete exit from employment.

India’s civil aviation sector has, over the course of the past several months, found itself at the confluence of a geopolitical shock, a structural tax anomaly, and the most severe operational cost crisis its airlines...

As discussed in our previous article, the Consultation Paper addressed a structural gap in the existing aircraft leasing ecosystem in GIFT City. While aircraft leasing entities could already be established in the IFSC, aircraft ownership, primary financing, transaction structuring and related professional services could continue to remain outside the IFSC.

India's aviation sector is experiencing unprecedented growth, evolving from 74 operational airports in 2014 to 163 in 2025, with ambitious plans to reach 400 airports by 2047.

The court ruled that certain airline pilots must be classified as "workmen" under the ambit of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (ID Act).

The Division Bench of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court, comprising Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, delivered a significant judgment...

On 16 September, the Ministry of Civil Aviation published the draft Civil Drone (Promotion and Regulation) Bill, 2025 for public consultation. This post provides Ikigai Law's comments on the Draft Civil Drone Bill.