Kingfisher, SpiceJet may fly abroad soon

Relatively new airlines such as SpiceJet and Kingfisher may soon get a chance to fly abroad if the civil aviation ministry has its way.

The ministry has proposed to relax rules that require domestic airlines to fly within the country for five years before they can be allowed to start overseas operations. The changes were recommended to a group of ministers (GoM) headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which is reviewing the new civil aviation policy called 'Vision-2020'.

"The gamut of issues like whether the present norms be amended or whether the insistence on five years of domestic experience is relevant or not, will be discussed by the GoM," civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla told PTI here.

Under the prevailing norms, an airline which has a fleet of 20 aircraft and has operated in the domestic sector for five years along with having a paid-up capital of Rs 100 crore, is allowed to fly abroad. The norms were made to ensure that airlines serve the country and are financially sound to operate on international sectors.

Domestic players like Kingfisher and SpiceJet have been seeking relaxation of these norms, under which only Air India, Indian (now merged) and Jet Airways are currently defined as 'designated carriers' to operate overseas.

Maintaining that the new norms were suggested by the ministry to the GoM, Chawla said no major country had any time-bound stipulation to allow their carriers to fly abroad.

"Most of them allow their airlines to do so depending on their financial strength and their technical capability. Australia has an additional condition that public interest should be ensured," he said.