The Hindu Business Line : More Indian carriers may fly abroad

What they say
The current requirement of having a minimum fleet of 20 aircraft to operate internationally is not likely to be changed. The proposal to review the present norms arises from the lopsided usage of bilateral air services agreements that India has with a number of countries.

New Delhi May 29 More Indian carriers could soon be allowed to wing their way abroad. This would become possible if the Union Cabinet gives its nod to the Civil Aviation policy when it comes up for review this Thursday.

The policy proposes that the Ministry of Civil Aviation be allowed to decide on a case-to-case basis the airlines that should be permitted to operate abroad. While the policy is unlikely to specify any criterion for allowing an airline to fly abroad, the Government could look at diluting present norms which stipulate that five years of operations in the domestic sector is a must before they can be allowed on international routes.

The current requirement of having a minimum fleet of 20 aircraft to operate internationally is not likely to be changed, sources said.

According to sources in the Government, the proposal to review the present norms arises from the lopsided usage of bilateral air services agreement that India has with a number of countries.

"The sector is booming. There has been huge growth in both domestic and international air traffic to and from India, but this growth is heavily weighed in favour of international airlines as there are not enough Indian carriers allowed to fly abroad. The Ministry is seeking to correct the imbalance in a calibrated manner," a senior Government official said.

Industry analysts point out that there could be further depletion in the number of Indian carriers flying abroad unless the present policy is changed.

Currently, State-owned Air India and Indian and two private operators, Jet Airways and Air Sahara are allowed to ply the international skies. But, with the merger of Air India and Indian under way and the Jet Airway's buyout of Air Sahara, the number of Indian carriers flying abroad would be reduced by half. Currently, Indian carriers account for about 30 per cent of the international traffic.

Various options

The Government has been examining various options for correcting this imbalance. Earlier this month, the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, hinted at a change in policy but said there may not be any blanket review of allowing airlines from India to fly abroad. "We will look at country-specific proposals," Mr Patel had said.

Any change in current policy, especially lowering the five-year criterion to three years, could immediately benefit both Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines.

Towards the end of this year, Kingfisher airline is to receive the first of the 15 new Airbus planes ordered by it. This aircraft, an Airbus A-340-500, has the capacity to fly non-stop between India and the US. The airline has also ordered five each of the Airbus A-330 and Airbus A-380. The airline Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, has all along maintained that the wide-body aircraft being acquired by his company would not sit on the ground. To overcome the Government regulation, Mr Mallya's UB Group had started work to register an airline in the US that would fly passengers from US to India and back.

In addition, Air Deccan operates the Airbus A-320 that can fly from India to countries in East Asia, South Asia and the Gulf region.

The policy, which is being referred to as `Vision 2020', would not call for any change in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector or allow foreign airlines to pick up a direct or indirect stake in domestic airlines.

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