Air India's ‘first right' to fly overseas routes blocks private airlines' plans

New Delhi: Air India's first right to fly overseas is coming in the way of attempts by private airlines to fly on more overseas routes. Existing laws give Air India the first right of refusal on overseas routes as it is the national carrier.
Flights between two countries are determined by air services bilaterals which are exchanged between two sovereign nations.
So, the number of flights between, say, the US and India are determined by the bilaterals that the governments of these two countries sign.
What is fast becoming a big sore point for private airlines is that there are several routes on which Air India is not flying itself and is also not giving up its rights to allow other airlines to operate, sources claim. This is creating a situation where the expansion plans of private sector airlines to destinations such as Dubai, Singapore, Thailand and the CIS countries are getting blocked.
What compounds the situation is the recent report of the Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG), which blames the Ministry of Civil Aviation for being liberal in exchange of bilaterals.
13/12/11 Business Line

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Categories: Air India Dec 2011, Foreign Dec 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Dec 2011