In recent times several groundbreaking news have come in, such as entry of AirAsia and Singapore Airlines, permission to Etihad to expand its operation, double-digit growth in domestic traffic, etc
Lobbying in the aviation sector seems to be fading away with Air India deciding to pull out of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) despite being its founding member since 2006. According to news reports there were differences over the re-organisation of the aviation sector. FIA, so far, has been relying on domestic carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir to keep itself going, not yet extending its membership to the Malaysia-owned AirAsia.
While some players in the aviation sector may say FIA is losing its relevance as it has not been able to push the interests of airlines on issues such as fleet and equity requirements, aviation turbine fuel pricing and sales tax, slot allocation etc, the question that arises is, should the Narendra Modi led government itself not be looking into the much needed reforms in the sector which faced accumulated losses of over Rs 10,000 crore in 2013-14. In recent times several groundbreaking news have come in such as entry of AirAsia and Singapore Airlines, permission to Etihad to expand its operation, double digit growth in domestic traffic, Etihad injecting much needed investment in Jet and most of all re-entry of Tata Group in the aviation industry. All these developments have potential to revive the fortune of industry.
The industry, however, still requires some progressive steps from the government to ensure a level playing field. One such act could be review of present regulatory regime governing the aviation sector in India, in order to remove inbuilt loopholes which have impeded the process of infusion of competition in the sector, for long.
13/11/14 Pradeep S Mehta/Asian Age
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Lobbying in the aviation sector seems to be fading away with Air India deciding to pull out of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) despite being its founding member since 2006. According to news reports there were differences over the re-organisation of the aviation sector. FIA, so far, has been relying on domestic carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir to keep itself going, not yet extending its membership to the Malaysia-owned AirAsia.
While some players in the aviation sector may say FIA is losing its relevance as it has not been able to push the interests of airlines on issues such as fleet and equity requirements, aviation turbine fuel pricing and sales tax, slot allocation etc, the question that arises is, should the Narendra Modi led government itself not be looking into the much needed reforms in the sector which faced accumulated losses of over Rs 10,000 crore in 2013-14. In recent times several groundbreaking news have come in such as entry of AirAsia and Singapore Airlines, permission to Etihad to expand its operation, double digit growth in domestic traffic, Etihad injecting much needed investment in Jet and most of all re-entry of Tata Group in the aviation industry. All these developments have potential to revive the fortune of industry.
The industry, however, still requires some progressive steps from the government to ensure a level playing field. One such act could be review of present regulatory regime governing the aviation sector in India, in order to remove inbuilt loopholes which have impeded the process of infusion of competition in the sector, for long.
13/11/14 Pradeep S Mehta/Asian Age
