Govt bias to widen Jet's gulf with AI

New Delhi: Jet Airways, which is just about finding its feet in foreign sectors, may be in for some turbulence. The government has decided to step in to protect the state carrier Air-India (AI) by reserving the lucrative routes in the Gulf region exclusively for it.The situation is somewhat ironical, since the move comes at a time when the government plans to open the Gulf routes to private sector airlines. Jet Airways, the only private carrier having the right to fly on all foreign routes, may have to stay content with less-lucrative sectors in the Gulf while Air-India and Air India Express may get exclusive rights to the more attractive, high-revenue routes.
An aviation ministry official said the government is studying the Jet application to operate on the Gulf sector and a decision will be taken on the basis of route availability.
He, however, went on to add that Jet would be given permission to fly on Gulf routes keeping in view the interest of public sector carriers. The approval of traffic rights to Jet would also be subject to the availability of routes under the bilateral agreement.
10/09/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: Air India - International Sep 2007, Air india Budget Sep 2007, Foreign Sep 2007, Jet Airways Sep 2007, NACL Sep 2007