Flight plan may backfire for Air India

The expansion of Gulf airlines into new territories in recent years has provoked protectionist responses from rival carriers worldwide, with the latest fault lines emerging in India.
But restricting the influence of Gulf airlines in India could damage the profitability of domestic airlines on the subcontinent, experts say.
India's national auditor last week called for Gulf carriers' services to the country to be reduced because they disadvantaged Air India, the country's ailing flag carrier.
But commentators say Indian airlines have much more to lose from such a drastic move and that Air India's lack of profitability is not a competition issue. "They're playing the blame game, there's very little substance to their critique," said Saj Ahmad, an analyst at FBE Aerospace in London. "Air India is no different to Emirates [Airline]. Both are state-supported, they both have reciprocal rights, one is prospering and one is not."
In its report to parliament last Thursday, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India said the ministry of civil aviation had ignored "the interest of the Indian carriers including that of Air India" in allowing Middle East airlines to continually add flights to their Indian routes.
12/09/11 Rory Jones/The National

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Categories: Air India Sep 2011, Foreign Sep 2011