It's open season for foreign airlines

The open sky policy period will be operational between November & March.

In a move that will provide further operational freedom to international carriers, the civil aviation ministry plans to declare the period from November to March every year as the open sky period, during which international carriers can fly as many flights as they want.

Currently, the government declares a limited open sky period every year depending on various parameters, including availability of slots at airports.

"The open sky policy period will be operational between November and March for the next three years," said a senior government official.

The long-term declaration of an open sky policy has been a demand of the international carriers operating in India as they feel such a move will help them plan the required frequencies in advance.

Over the last few years, the government has been taking an ad hoc view of the open sky policy, allowing carriers to mount flights to India.

A departure from this practice was made this year when the government decided to allow international carriers to start flights to India as early as August.

Currently, international airlines have to enter into commercial agreements with either Air-India or Indian Airlines to launch their India operations under the limited open sky policy.

The government's decision to follow an open sky policy during 2003-04 alone resulted in international airlines adding more than 260,000 additional seats on their flights into, and out of, India.

It is also expected that the during the present open sky policy period the international carriers are expected to add at least 4 million additional seats.

"We expect the tourist inflow to grow at least by 20 per cent this year. This move will take care of this increase in traffic," said the official.

Private industry also applauded the decision. Said Ankur Bhatia, chief executive, Amadeus India, "Announcing the open sky policy well in advance is a good move. It will allow international carriers to plan the schedule accordingly."

The government's decision to announce the open sky period well in advance had lead to a large number of airlines deciding to add more flights to India during the period.

For instance, the Middle East-based airline, Emirates, had proposed to add at least 600 additional frequencies to India during the open sky policy period.