The Hindu Business Line : Limited open-sky only for busy sectors

During the past few years, to ensure that air travellers do not face any problem travelling to and from India, the Government has followed a global limited open-sky policy.

This allows airlines to either operate additional flights or fly larger aircraft to India to meet growing demand for seats during the peak tourist season.

The Government's latest thinking is guided by the fact that India has recently signed liberal bilateral air services agreement with several countries including the US, the UK, France, Germany and China.

While the agreement with the UK will see 56 flights a week between Delhi and Mumbai and London by winter next year, India and the US have agreed to designate any number of airlines to operate services between the two countries.

Official sources said it was necessary to find out whether the grants under the various bilateral agreements were being fully utilised before deciding on the regions or countries coming under the limited open-sky policy.

Last year, the limited open-sky policy proved to be a major draw for international airlines with the Government receiving as many as 1,639 requests for `slots' during the winter season.

Slots are time slices allocated to each airline for use of the runway for take-off or landing operations.

This, in effect, means that the Government has received requests for more than 1,600 additional flights during the five-month limited open-sky period.

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