NEW DELHI: In a significant change of stance, national carrier Air India dropped its opposition against the abolition of the controversial five years and 20 aircraft norm, a move that could tilt the balance in favour of new airlines, who have lobbied against the eligibility norm for domestic airlines to fly abroad.The national carrier, which had opposed the abolition of 5/20 earlier, now feels that they are indifferent to the fate of the proposal.“We are focusing on improving our internal factors to ensure that the airline becomes competitive enough. We have told the civil aviation ministry that we are indifferent to the fate of 5/20 norms – whether it is abolished, retained or replaced with something else,” said a top Air India official, who di not want to be identified.5/20 eligibility requires any domestic carriers to have a domestic flying experience of five years and a fleet of 20 aircraft in its fleet to fly international routes.This is clear change in stance by Air India, which had in the past opposed the abolition of these norms on the grounds that any Indian carrier flying abroad should have a certain domestic flying experience. The Federation of Indian Airlines or FIA when contacted cryptically said: 'Air India is not their member anymore and they are not in touch.' They declined to elaborate further.Drop in opposition by Air India will strengthen the case for the abolition of 5/20 paving way for international flying plans of newer airlines such as AirAsia India and Vistara, which can fly international even before five years of domestic flying. ET had reported in September last year that PM Modi has also supported abolition of a regressive norm like 5/20.At present, domestic carriers need to be in operation for at least five years and have a fleet of minimum 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly on global routes. The abolition of these norms will be announced as part of the civil aviation policy, which is likely to be moved for Cabinet consultations by next week.Air India, Jet Airways , SpiceJet and IndiGo are the domestic carriers that operate on international routes.The Wadias-promoted GoAir will become eligible to fly abroad after it inducts its 20th aircraft. The move to abolish the 5/20 rules will benefit Vistara and AirAsia India.While AirAsia started its India operations in June 2014, Vistara has completed one month of operations in January.While newer carriers are for the removal of 5/20, older carriers like Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir and the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) are against any such move. IndiGo and spiceJet had to wait for five years to fly on the international routes.