NEW DELHI, Dec. 25 -- Late on Tuesday, civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu tweeted that three proposed airlines-Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress-have received no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the ministry. With Air Kerala already holding one, the announcement appeared to signal a surge of new entrants into India's regional aviation market.

But the impression that multiple new airlines are poised to take off is misleading. An NOC is only the first, and the easiest, step in a long regulatory and financial process. In most cases, it never results in an operational airline-let alone one capable of challenging the dominance of IndiGo and Air India.

Mint explains what the government's NOC actually signifies, and why t...