Carriers told to fly new routes to tap business opportunities

New Delhi: The government has asked domestic carriers such as Jet Airways and Air India to tap business opportunities in unexplored markets such as Australia and Mauritius instead of operating only on lucrative routes like the Gulf.
The move comes at a time when the market share of domestic carriers is decreasing and nearly 40% bilateral seat entitlements are unutilised. Due to high fuel prices, heavy taxation and several entry barriers, Indian carriers have lost around 6% market share to foreign carriers on the country’s international traffic during the last three years.
Since the government announced opening of Gulf routes for private players, airlines have made a beeline, seeking traffic rights for this lucrative sector. While Jet Airways has already started operating on some of the Gulf routes, JetLite (formerly Air Sahara) and Air Deccan — scheduled to complete five years of operation in the domestic market this summer — have applied for Gulf routes.
04/03/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2008, Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2008, New Mar 2008