Kuwait's decision to stop flights unfair: GovtBS Reporter / New Delhi June 25, 2007The Union Civil Aviation Ministry has described Kuwait's decision to stop Indian flights to Kuwait as "unfair and unwarranted" and has assured the two national carriers Indian and Air India that the issue will be settled in a couple of days, sources said."Our ambassador to Kuwait has conveyed a message to them saying that there is a bilateral agreement between the two countries, and such unilateral action would be harmful to the interests of the travellers," said a civil aviation ministry spokesperson. "India is always ready for talks with Kuwaiti authorities and open for any discussion on the issue."Civil aviation ministry officials briefed the external affairs ministry on the issue at a meeting last week.Kuwait had recently issued notices to Indian and Air India, threatening that they would stop their flights from 1 July. They had accused that New Delhi had gone back on its commitments in the bilateral agreements between the countries.According to the current bilateral agreement signed in 2006, the civil aviation ministry allowed Kuwait to increase the flights per week from 25 to around 40. In all four carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines from the Indian side, and Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways from Kuwait, operate international flights to and from cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kochi.According to sources the talks hit a roadblock when the Kuwait government wanted a 50% increase in Jazeera Airways' flights to India. That would have taken the total number of flights from 13 where it stands currently to around 20. Sources also said that Kuwait wanted most of Jazeera's flights to be routed through Dubai as per the 'fifth freedom intermediate rights' guaranteed in the agreement. This right allows a carrier to pick up traffic to, and from, a third country. The civil aviation ministry shot down the proposal saying it would affect business of the national carriers for whom the Gulf routes account for a large part of revenues.Despite the threats from Kuwaiti civil aviation authorities, there is no panic among the passengers nor any dip in the bookings yet. "There have been no ticket cancellations of Kuwait flights yet. Neither have passengers shown a sudden frenzy to shift to other airlines," said Raj Kachroo, sales manager, Swift travels. "It is impossible to stop flights at the eleventh hour, and had there been any such measure, then the concerned airlines would have informed passengers in advance or made alternate arrangements," he said.The national carriers too are assured that the matter will be settled before any trouble comes to fore.
