New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is developing an entirely new framework for bilateral air services agreements (ASAs) that will focus more on the needs of domestic carriers. The ministry has been criticised for granting bilaterals in a manner that causes domestic players like Air India to lose business to foreign competition. Emirates, for instance overtook Air India in 2013 with a 13% market share.
A senior civil aviation ministry official confirmed to FE it was conducting an internal exercise to review the position on bilaterals. “The idea is to understand in which areas we are underutilised, whether there is a shortage of aircraft or other bottlenecks,” the official said. He explained the new guidelines would pencil in not just the industry’s current ability to use the seats but future potential. “The primary consideration should be: What’s in it for us? There have to be larger economic benefits for the country,” he said, adding that a review of how existing bilaterals had helped had been initiated.
26/06/14 Roudra Bhattacharya/Financial Express
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A senior civil aviation ministry official confirmed to FE it was conducting an internal exercise to review the position on bilaterals. “The idea is to understand in which areas we are underutilised, whether there is a shortage of aircraft or other bottlenecks,” the official said. He explained the new guidelines would pencil in not just the industry’s current ability to use the seats but future potential. “The primary consideration should be: What’s in it for us? There have to be larger economic benefits for the country,” he said, adding that a review of how existing bilaterals had helped had been initiated.
26/06/14 Roudra Bhattacharya/Financial Express
