The draft civil aviation policy presented to the Planning Commission by the ministry of civil aviation proposes to allow Air-India and Indian Airlines to hold on to their unused bilaterals for a period of seven years.
The earlier proposal was to permit them to retain their unused bilaterals only for a period of three years continuously, after which the unused rights would be offered to other international airlines.
The first right of refusal to flying on these routes, however, will be retained with the national carriers, top government officials said. In due course of time, these rights would also be made available to domestic airlines other than Indian Airlines, they said. At present, Jet Airways and Air Sahara are not allowed to fly overseas.
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According to data compiled by the ministry, 60-55 per cent of Indian bilaterals signed with various countries including Russia, the US, Germany and the UK are currently not used due to inadequate aircraft with Air-India.
On flying rights being used by the two national carriers, the officials said Air-India and Indian Airlines would be allowed to hold on to these bilaterals also for seven years. Air-India has been complaining that by allowing Indian Airlines to fly overseas, the government has allowed the domestic carrier to eat into its profits.
If the proposal gets Cabinet approval, while Indian Airlines could be permitted to fly to Europe and America, international airlines including Emirates and Singapore International Airlines (SIA) that have even offered to pay rents, could operate A-I