Air Kerala proposal for international operations rejected

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel told the Parliament today that the Government of Kerala has informed that a public limited company, ‘Air Kerala International Services Ltd.’, has been registered by the State Government as a Special Purpose Vehicle for a budget airline project.
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Opposition blames government

In his reaction, Kerala's Leader of
Opposition and former chief minister
Oommen Chandy flayed the V.S.
Achuthanandan government for failing
to lobby with the centre in the matter.
Chandy said it was he who had had
worked out the proposal when he
was in office and put maximum pressure
to see that it became a reality."The
sanction had to be accorded by the
civil aviation ministry only by bypassing
the current norms. For that, it is
the responsibility of the state to bring
pressure."We had worked out a
blueprint and the present Left
Democratic Front government due to
its callous attitude has virtually lost
the project," Chandy told IANS.
14/03/07 Mangalorean.com
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The Government of Kerala has requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation for exemption to the proposed airline from stipulated conditions relating to fleet size and length of operation in the domestic sector for an airline to be considered for international operations.
The request was however, not considered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as the existing provisions of minimum fleet size of 20 aircraft and experience of five years of continuous operations in domestic sector for permitting an Indian schedule carrier to operate international services, are considered essential for safe and reliable operations on international routes.
Further, the Minister informed, the Gulf routes are presently reserved only for Air India and Indian Airlines.
13/03/07 Press Information Bureau (press release)

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2007, New Mar 2007