New Delhi: Even as India has nearly tripled the bilateral entitlements with Abu Dhabi, the ministry has placed a cap on the number of flights carriers from Abu Dhabi can operate from these cities to prevent revenue losses of airport operators.
According to the new agreement Etihad can fly out 3,300 passenger per week out of Delhi and Mumbai subject to a frequency of two flights a day.
“We have made provisions to address the concerns of airlines and airport operators in India. Etihad wanted the limit on the number of flights they can operate between any airport in the country and Abu Dhabi be waived off, but we ensured that the limit remains on two flights a day from Delhi and Mumbai and one daily flight from any other airport in the country,” said a civil aviation ministry official.
He informed that without the limit on daily frequencies, Etihad would have operated smaller aircrafts, impacting the revenue earnings of Indian airport operators.
25/04/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee /Business Standard
