Norms may be eased for foreign airlines

Govt to liberalise air service agreements with other countries

The government is planing to liberalise air service agreements with other countries in an attempt to improve air connectivity to India.

As a first step, the government is likely to phase out the mandatory commercial agreements that international carriers need to enter into with state-owned Air-India and Indian Airlines.

This will be done at destinations with large international air traffic and allow these airlines to fly to a foreign destination from any Indian city.

The proposal also looks to optimise the utilisation of seat entitlements of Indian carriers by allowing private airlines to operate on international routes that are restricted to national carriers at present.

"There is a need to improve air links. We are looking at ways to expand existing bilateral agreements," said a civil aviation ministry official.

At present, all countries with an air services agreement with India are offered seven flights from any one airport to an Indian city and another seven from a second airport.

Permission for more flights are given on a case-to-case basis, depending on economic, tourism and diplomatic considerations or on a reciprocal basis.

Airlines from the 10 Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) countries are offered daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Moreover, unlimited flights have been offered to 18 other tourist gateways on a reciprocal basis.

The official also said the issue of giving private Indian airlines the status of designated carriers could be addressed through bilateral agreements with individual countries, as well as in the proposed civil aviation policy.

He added the government was examining the issue of permitting Indian private carriers to fly to Asean countries.

The government is expected to permit scheduled Indian private carriers to fly to Southeast Asian countries soon, opening the way for carriers like Jet Airways, Air Deccan and Air Sahara to fly to more lucrative destinations like Singapore.

Private carriers can now fly to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The official said these airlines would now be permitted to fly daily to some key hubs like Singapore.

Private Indian carriers have been pushing for permission to fly to countries other than those in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) as these routes are more lucrative.

Airlines like Jet Airways have started preliminary discussions with various airports to start services. Sources said the airlines would also be required to sort out logistical issues like time table, fares as well as domestic links.

Open skies

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• International carriers may not need to enter into commercial agreements with A-I, IA
• Private airlines to be allowed to operate on international routes restricted to national carriers at present
• Existing bilateral agreements on aviation are likely to be expanded