The Hindu Business Line : Ministry not in favour of giving more sops to Asean airlines

THE designated airlines of the 10-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) may not have any further concessions coming their way than what has already been granted to them under the `open skies' announcement made by the former Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

At least, that is the way it will be if the Ministry of Civil Aviation has its way. Official sources told Business Line that the Ministry, while accepting the terms of the `open skies' announcement of the former Prime Minister, is against giving any more concessions which some of the Asean airlines are keenly looking forward to.

Addressing the India-Asean Summit in October last year, Mr Vajpayee had announced that the designated airlines of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam would be allowed to operate daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai without having to enter into bilateral air services talks with India.

Besides, he had also offered unlimited number of flights to these airlines to another 18 tourist destinations, including places such as Goa and Bhubaneswar.

The Congress-led UPA Government under Dr Manmohan Singh has already agreed to implement the declaration made by Mr Vajpayee.

However, some of the Asean airlines are said to be pressing the Indian Government for some more concessions, including the permission to operate services not only to India but also onwards to foreign destinations from here.

During the Prime Minister's recent visit to Bangkok for the BIMST-EC meet, the issue was raised at the meeting, which Dr Singh had with several of his Asean counterparts. The Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, pressed for implementation of the `open skies' policy for onward flights between the two countries. In response, Dr Singh promised to examine the issue.

But now, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation putting its foot down on giving any further concessions, the issue appears to have been caught in a logjam. In an effort to find a way out, a meeting is likely to be held between the Minister for External Affairs and the Minister for Civil Aviation, possibly later this week.

Interestingly, at least one Asean airlines, Thai Airways International, has already been given permission to operate flights to and from India.

The airline, at present, operates four-times-a-week on the Bangkok-Chennai-Dubai-Chennai-Bangkok sector.