Ministry shuts skies on extra foreign flights

New Delhi: Those flying abroad this winter may face a shortage of seats with a government directive today ruling that foreign carriers can use larger aircraft on existing routes but cannot add more flights during the peak winter season.
Leading foreign airlines like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines reacted strongly to the move saying they had already deployed wide-bodied aircraft for Indian operations and won't be able to increase capacity during the coming peak season. Earlier, the government used to allow foreign carriers to increase the number of flights during the peak season.
The directive is part of the 'limited open skies' policy for foreign carriers announced by the civil aviation ministry under which the carriers will be allowed to increase capacity by deploying bigger aircraft on existing flight schedules between December 1, 2007, and January 31, 2008. They will not be able to increase the number of flights.
Demand for seats during this time of the year usually goes up by 30-40 per cent, or even more.
16/11/07 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Categories: Foreign Nov 2007, General Aviation Nov 2007