The Hindu Business Line : `Open skies' - paving the way for greater economic integration with Asean?

THE statement of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, announcing a unilateral `open-sky policy' for the 10 member-countries grouped under the Asean is an attempt to expedite greater economic integration of the Indian economy with one of the fastest growing regions of the world.

Official sources told Business Line that the Prime Minister's statement on the aviation sector cannot be viewed in isolation but has to be seen in the context of India's growing attempts to have a "EU type arrangement" with the Asean member-countries.

In layman's language, sources explained that what Mr Vajpayee's statement meant "is that the designated airlines of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will be allowed to operate daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai without having to enter into bilateral air-services talks with India."

This apart, Mr Vajpayee also offered unlimited number of flights to the designated airlines of the Asean member-countries to another 18 tourist destinations in India.

"One of the key requirements of trade and commerce is good air connectivity. This, in today's day and age, means having at least a daily flight between the Asean nations and the major metros. Besides, the other destinations to which the airlines have been allowed to fly are of tourist interest. At present, we are getting no or very little international tourist traffic in most of these cities. If the PM's statement boosts tourist traffic arrivals, will it not help the domestic economy?" a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation argued.

However, officials have also voiced concern over the impact the implementation of the Prime Minister's statement would have on Indian Airlines (IA) and Air India (AI). Sources point to the fact that there is nothing in the agreement which would prevent the designated Asean airlines from picking up passengers from India and taking them not only to their home base but onwards from there to other parts of the world. And, with there being no proposal as yet for revenue sharing between the designated Asean airlines and the Indian carriers, it would lead to a revenue loss for the latter.

Our Mumbai Bureau adds: Malaysia Airlines and Singapore International Airlines, the national carriers of two of the prominent countries in the Asean region, have welcomed the Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee's statement on open skies for the Asean nations.

Looking forward to the early implementation of the policy, they said, expansion of their services would be put in place once the policy gets off the ground.

According to Mr Manu Shenoy, Sales Manager, Malaysia Airlines, the recent announcement could hasten approval for additional flights that the airline had applied for sometime back. Malaysia Airlines, he said, was keen to add two flights each to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Mr Shenoy added that while the Prime Minister's statement was welcome, the airline did not expect things to change immediately. "We are awaiting further details... We expect that we will still have to go through the normal procedures, as laid down by the civil aviation policy in the country," he said.

Reacting to the policy statement, Mr B.K. Ong, General Manager, Singapore International Airlines, said: "It is a step in the right direction. It's good for consumers, good for India and good for the travel industry, and we hope that it will be put in place quickly."

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