Mumbai: Foreign airlines are likely to be allowed to fly Airbus 380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, into India with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Government of India setting up a group to study and decide time slots for the aircraft at local airports. Nine airlines, including Etihad Airways PJSC, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, operate the wide-body, double-deck jets, which can seat as many as 525 passengers. “They are all asking for it,” said Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India, referring to a slew of foreign airlines wanting to fly the jumbo jet into India’s modernised airports such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, as per a report by Tarun Shukla in Mint. Singh said he sees no reason why the A380 should not be allowed to fly in India.
So far, the A380 had been barred from flying commercially in India for fear that it could stretch the existing infrastructure at airports in the country and undermine local airlines that do not have the aircraft in their fleet. Yet, the A380 has made debut flights in India, been present at local air shows and made an emergency landing at Hyderabad on its way from Australia.
10/05/13 TravelBizMonitor
