 "Civil Aviation Ministry revising note on bilaterals")
The note is being revised after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) sent it back to the Civil Aviation Ministry on June 13 for making modifications to address the concerns expressed by these politicians.
They had questioned the rationale behind the decision to enhance the number of seats that airlines from India and Abu Dhabi would be allowed to operate to each other -- from the current level of 13,700 seats per week to 50,000.
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They also objected to the enhancement of the bilateral rights soon after the Rs 2,058 crore stake sale deal was clinched between Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad. Following this, the PMO had come out with a statement rebutting their charges.
The Ministry is likely to state that this increase in the number of seats by 36,670 seats, which would be carried out in a phased manner over a three-year period, was taken by the Inter-Ministerial Group, official sources said.
While an additional 11,000 seats per week would be added to the existing 13,700 this year, another 12,800 seats would be added per week in 2014 and yet another 12,870 seats till 2015.
The note is also likely to detail the sequence of events leading the two countries to sign the new air services agreement in April after a gap of several years.
An ex-post facto approval of the Union Cabinet is required for this MoU to be operationalised.
The Ministry may also include the fact that under the latest MoU, Abu Dhabi would be allowing the gauge change facility for Indian carriers, the sources said.
Change of gauge in air transport means a change of aircraft, even a larger one. It implies that an Indian airline can take passengers to Abu Dhabi, change aircraft and fly them to other international destinations from there.