Emirates wants 600 more flights till March

Plans 600 flights between November 04 and March 05.

Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, has sought permission to operate 600 flights to India between November 2004 and March 2005 under the government's Open Sky Policy.

At present, Emirates operates 43 flights a week, or six flights a day, to India. If the government approves its latest proposal, the number could go up to 10 a day.

Under the policy, foreign airlines like Emirates will be allowed to increase the frequency of their flights to India for a period of six months, keeping in view the pick-up in traffic during the peak travel season beginning in November.

"During the Open Sky period, Emirates will be operating additional flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi. The maximum number of additional flights will be to Mumbai," Emirates officials said.

The airline already operates non-stop flights to these destinations. Sources in the civil aviation ministry added that Emirates has also sought permission to fly to other cities of India during the Open Sky period.

The Emirates request for additional capacity to India comes at a time when inbound traffic is at an all-time high. By the end of the current financial year, tourist arrivals in the country are expected to touch 3.6 million. Several airlines have added new capacity, because of the surge in business.

Emirates has been looking at establishing a foothold in the Indian market and hopes to capture a chunk of the traffic to the US and the UK from India.

Sources in the ministry also said national carriers of at least nine countries, including South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan and Austria are likely to be allowed to operate more flights to India under the 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.