Mumbai: The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India is expected to restart from next month the process of expanding international flying rights agreements with key countries, starting with Singapore, despite criticism by the government auditor of previous such exercises, a report by Tarun Shukla in the Mint stated. In 2004-11, when Praful Patel was Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India, the country had allowed several overseas carriers to expand capacity to multiple cities. That pace of opening up came to a standstill amid criticism by the government auditor and protests by state-owned airline Air India Ltd, as it was unable to take advantage because it lacked the planes at the time.
The process is set to resume with a ministry delegation visiting Singapore in the first week of April. “There is a huge demand from and to Singapore for flights and the existing capacity is already reaching its limits. Others like Sri Lanka, etc., are also on the radar,” said a ministry official.
20/03/13 TravelBizMonitor
