An aircraft is a regulated asset before it is a financed one.
Indian aviation work rarely divides cleanly into transaction and regulation. A lease depends on how the aircraft is registered; a repossession depends on how quickly the regulator will act on an IDERA; a drone launch depends on certification long before it depends on a contract. The firm advises across that whole line — the approval, the instrument and the enforcement — rather than at one point of it.
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation
- Ministry of Civil Aviation
- Airports Economic Regulatory Authority
- High Courts and appellate tribunals
What the practice covers.
Aircraft finance & leasing
Advice to lessors, financiers and operators on the structures used to put an aircraft into service in India — operating leases, finance leases, sale-and-leaseback arrangements and engine leases — and on the security, registration and filings that hold those structures together once the aircraft is on the Indian register.
- Operating and finance lease documentation
- Sale-and-leaseback and novation
- Engine and component leasing
- Security creation, perfection and priority
- Cape Town Convention and IDERA filings
- Registration and deregistration with the DGCA
DGCA & regulatory advisory
Work that sits in front of the regulator rather than a court — permits, approvals, certifications and clarifications before the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the other civil aviation authorities, together with the compliance programmes that keep an operator on the right side of them.
- Scheduled and non-scheduled operator permits
- Foreign aircraft operations and clearances
- Air operator certification and continuing compliance
- Regulatory audits, show-cause notices and responses
- Aviation security and safety obligations
- Advisory on civil aviation requirements (CARs)
Drone & UAS law
A young regulatory field where the rules move faster than the market. The firm advises manufacturers, operators and service providers on certification, airspace and operational approvals under the Drone Rules, and on the commercial contracts that sit on top of them.
- Type certification and manufacturer approvals
- Beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) approvals
- Airspace zones, permissions and operational conditions
- Drone-as-a-service and survey contracting
- Data, imagery and privacy obligations
- Import, component sourcing and PLI conditions
Airport concessions & infrastructure
Advice to bidders, concessionaires and service providers on airport and airside infrastructure — from bid stage through concession documentation to the operational and regulatory obligations that follow award.
- Bid strategy and consortium arrangements
- Concession and operations documentation
- Ground handling and airside service contracts
- Tariff and economic regulation
- Land, lease and development agreements
- Dispute avoidance and claims under concessions
Representative matter types.
Described generically and without client identification, consistent with Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules.
- Advised a foreign lessor on repossession and deregistration of an aircraft in India following lease default, including IDERA enforcement before the regulator.
- Advised a domestic drone manufacturer on type certification and beyond-visual-line-of-sight operational approvals under the Drone Rules, 2021.
- Advised a financier on security structuring, registration and Cape Town Convention filings for an aircraft delivered to an Indian operator.
- Advised a bidding consortium on concession and operations documentation for a regional airport.
- Advised a non-scheduled operator on permit conditions, foreign aircraft operations and DGCA compliance following a regulatory audit.
No outcome is represented or promised. Past matters are not an indication of the result of any future matter.
Instructing the firm on aviation & aerospace.
Enquiries are reviewed by a partner. Please keep the first message general — the firm will run a conflict check before it can act.