New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS): The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday said that a total of 416 new positions have been established in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

According to officials, the DGCA employs a team of qualified and experienced aircraft/aeronautical engineers, pilots, and air traffic controllers to carry out its regulatory and oversight functions and as a testament to these efforts, a total of 416 new positions have been established in the DGCA, which will help the aviation watchdog to provide a safe environment in the sector.

"The positions will be filled in a phased manner and 114 posts out of these have already been filled," an official said.

The official further said that a total of 10 new posts have been created with the constant indulgence of the Ministry of Civil Aviation for expeditious discharge of functions by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA)

"Out of these 10, 5 posts have been filled. Rest of the posts will be filled soon. Apart from this there were 27 vacancies in existing posts. Out of this, 24 have been filled and remaining 3 are under process," said the official.

Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has created a number of posts of Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs), and is undertaking the recruitment and training. "To meet the growing demand of air travel, 796 additional posts of ATCOs have been created in two phases i.e. 340 posts in May 2022 and 456 posts in April 2023. Action has also been taken to fill the posts of ATCOs," said the official.