The Hindu Business Line : Lufthansa announces daily flight between Bangalore, Frankfurt

"We will definitely take up the open sky offer of the Government and operate a daily flight to Bangalore from Frankfurt. This will help provide better connectivity to the passengers. We really appreciate the Government's timing of the announcement as it helps international airlines plan the cycle of the aircraft to be operated," said Mr Werner Heesen, General Manager (Sales), India, and Director, South Asia.

Lufthansa may have stolen a march over other international airlines, but the Government's announcement is slowly but surely stirring up the aviation industry into action to take advantage of the relaxation on offer.

When contacted, a cross-section of global airlines operating regular flights to various cities in the country said that they were "evaluating" and "examining" the Government offer.

"Gulf Air will take up the offer and are in the process of evaluating it right now. We operate to seven cities here and are in the process of firming up which of these cities we should increase flights to during the period," said Mr John Anderson, the airline's General Manager (India).

Similarly, Kuwait Airways is also examining various options.

"The airline is examining the situation and depending on demand and aircraft availability, we would consider making use of the offer made by the Government," said Mr Pran Dasan, Manager (Sales and Marketing), Indian Subcontinent.

Welcoming the Government's initiative, Mr B.K. Ong, General Manager (India), Singapore Airlines, said that the airline would certainly be adding more services to India based on passenger demand.

A senior official of British Airways said that the airline was very hopeful of taking up the Government offer, but was awaiting some more "clarifications" from the Indian authorities before taking a final decision.

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, had informed the Rajya Sabha recently of the Government's decision to follow an open sky policy between November 1 this year and March 31 next year.

The Minister had said that the guidelines would be similar to the policy announced in 2003-04, when the Government allowed airlines from all regions, including the Gulf, to either operate more flights or fly larger aircraft on the Indian route.

Between November 2003 and February this year, the open sky policy led to airlines adding more than 2,20,000 seats.