Bar on Indian private airlines help foreign carriers profit

New Delhi: If UPA-I is accused of 'killing' Air India by liberally granting flying rights to foreign carriers, UPA-II could well be doing the reverse - not allowing private Indian carriers to fly abroad as much as they want to on the pretext of keeping those routes secure for AI. But the problem is while AI does have the capacity to fly on many of those routes and so even as private desi carriers keep waiting, foreign airlines end up being the ultimate winners by being the dominant players on those lucrative routes.
This fact came out on Wednesday when aviation minister Vayalar Ravi told Lok Sabha that in 2010-11, domestic airlines utilized a mere 20% of the flying rights that India has on a reciprocal basis with 109 countries. A whopping 80% of the total seat capacity of Indian carriers under bilateral air service agreement (ASA) with 109 countries went unutilized.
15/12/11 Times of India

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