NEW DELHI: The

Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has said there “no type certificate (TC) for HAL (

Ltd) produced aircraft issued by EASA that would allow the HAL produced aircraft to be operated in Europe.”

The EASA clarification by its deputy head of communication, Jagello G Fayl, comes after the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had on August 30 tweeted: “Happy to inform that HAL Civil Dornier 228 aircraft will have an Indian Type Certificate (TC). After an extensive interaction between DGCA & EASA at Cologne on the 26 August 2019, EASA supported DGCA for issuance of TC. Indeed a step forward towards ‘Make in India’ initiative.”

A senior DGCA official had said this meant that “now the (HAL-made) Dornier can be used for commercial use in Europe also.” However, EASA has denied this and said “no type certificate (TC) for HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) produced aircraft issued by EASA that would allow the HAL produced aircraft to be operated in Europe.”

The DGCA had in 2017-end move paved the way for the HAL-made 19-seater Dornier 228, which was to be used by defence forces, to be used by regional connectivity service operators under the ude desh ka aam nagrik (

) scheme.

The Dornier 228 is made at HAL’s transport aircraft division at Kanpur. “The 19 seater HAL Dornier-228 aircraft is a highly versatile multi-purpose light transport aircraft. It has been developed specifically to meet the

requirements of utility and commuter transport, third level services and air-taxi operations, coast guard duties and maritime surveillance,” the HAL website says.

The non-pressurised plane has maximum cruise speed of 428 kmph and a range of 700 km. It is capable of night flying.