Govt threatens to ground Swiss in India

New Delhi: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has threatened to stop all services of Swiss International Airlines (Swiss) to and from India. As a designated airline of its country, Swiss has allegedly violated the substantial ownership and effective control (SOEC) clause mandated under the bilateral air services agreement between the two countries.
Under the SOEC clause, the government has the right to designate one or more airlines. However, its substantial ownership and effective control should be vested in the party designating the airline (in this case, the Swiss government) or its citizens (the Swiss people).
According to the civil aviation ministry, this clause was violated after German carrier Lufthansa bought a majority equity stake in the airline. A top ministry official confirmed the MEA had written the letter, and said the Swiss government had responded. “They have said the airline is controlled by a trust that has representatives from the country of Switzerland. We are examining this answer”.
The official said the ministry had advised MEA to send a similar communication to Austrian, in which, too, Lufthansa has bought a majority stake. Austrian has not met the SOEC clause either.
While Swiss operates 14 flights a week, Austrian operates 11 flights a week from Delhi and Mumbai. The two are developing new hubs for Indian travellers flying to the US and other European countries.
15/09/11 Surajeet Das Gupta & Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Categories: Foreign Sep 2011