The Hindu Business Line : Govt may follow limited time open sky policy

IN an effort to facilitate air travel to-and-from India during the peak season, the Government is considering the option of following a limited time open sky policy for international airlines.

Official sources indicated that the open sky policy could come into force from mid-November and was likely remain for a period of up to three months.

The policy, if accepted by the Government, could be announced as early as the end of this month so as to give enough time to international airlines to plan their flight operations.

During the `open sky' period, foreign airlines will be allowed either to operate more flights or fly larger aircraft to ensure that passenger demand is adequately met.

In the past, several major international airlines have complained that they were unable to provide all the benefits of such a scheme to the passengers as the official announcement was made too late. The Government's decision to follow an open sky policy during 2003-04 alone resulted in international airlines adding more than 2,60,000 additional seats on their flights into and out of India.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the airlines of at least nine countries including Korea, Taiwan and Austria are likely to be allowed to operate more flights to India. Sources indicated that the request of the designated airlines of these and some other countries was likely to be treated under the policy approved by the Cabinet in December last year.

Former Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, had then said that the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to allow an airline not operating a daily flight or wishing to start air services here, to operate 14 flights a week to any two of the 12 international airports.

Officials clarified that the December decision of the Cabinet is country and not airline-specific.