New Delhi: Even as the Centre has grand plans to promote regional connectivity, questions have been raised on whether the proposed policy will take off or not.
Experts and airlines have criticised the proposal of a fare cap of Rs 2,500 an hour of flight on regional routes, which will qualify under the scheme.
Among national airlines, only Air India has shown some interest in participating in the regional connectivity scheme mooted by the Union civil aviation ministry in its draft policy released on Friday.
At present, Air India (six ATRs and three CRJs), Jet Airways (18 ATRs) and SpiceJet (14 Bombardier Q400) have smaller aircraft in its fleet catering to regional or short routes. Other scheduled operators in India such as Air Costa, Air Pegasus and TruJet also operate regional aircraft.
"Yes. We'll become a part of the scheme. We're giving a big push to regional connectivity and have already written to all the state governments. We're adding three new ATR72 (turbo prop regional aircraft) in the next two months and shall be adding 10 more next year to our subsidiary Alliance Air. The scheme is excellent and would go a long way in meeting national objectives," Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani told Business standard.
02/11/15 Somesh Jha & Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard
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Experts and airlines have criticised the proposal of a fare cap of Rs 2,500 an hour of flight on regional routes, which will qualify under the scheme.
Among national airlines, only Air India has shown some interest in participating in the regional connectivity scheme mooted by the Union civil aviation ministry in its draft policy released on Friday.
At present, Air India (six ATRs and three CRJs), Jet Airways (18 ATRs) and SpiceJet (14 Bombardier Q400) have smaller aircraft in its fleet catering to regional or short routes. Other scheduled operators in India such as Air Costa, Air Pegasus and TruJet also operate regional aircraft.
"Yes. We'll become a part of the scheme. We're giving a big push to regional connectivity and have already written to all the state governments. We're adding three new ATR72 (turbo prop regional aircraft) in the next two months and shall be adding 10 more next year to our subsidiary Alliance Air. The scheme is excellent and would go a long way in meeting national objectives," Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani told Business standard.
02/11/15 Somesh Jha & Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard
