Jet flight to China delayed as Beijing drags its feet

New Delhi: Even a month after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China and Jet Airways receiving an in-principle approval to fly to the country, Chinese authorities are ‘still dragging their feet’ over allowing India’s designated carrier to fly to Chinese cities.
During the January visit of Manmohan Singh to Beijing, India and China agreed to restrict the right of one carrier from each country to fly to three regions beyond the two countries.
Great Wall Airlines of China has already received the requisite permission from Indian authorities but is yet to start flying. In return, China was expected to give a clearance to Jet Airways for flying to San Francisco via Beijing after which the airline was preparing to fly to Shanghai and Guang Zhou on receiving permission.
When asked, ministry of civil aviation officials said the matter was with the ministry of external affairs and that Jet Airways is ready to fly to Beijing. “They have two aircraft lying unused,” a ministry official told FE. “They are still dragging their feet,” the official said referring to the Chinese authorities.
20/02/08 Financial Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Feb 2008, Jet Airways Feb 2008, New Feb 2008