The Hindu Business Line : Great Wall Airlines soon to land in India

New Delhi May 26 The Great Wall of China will soon land in India! Surprised? Don't be. The historical monument, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is not coming here; what is coming is a Chinese cargo airline that bears a similar name.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to Great Wall Airlines Company Ltd to start flights to India.

Regular Operations

Great Wall Airlines is a Sino-Singapore joint venture cargo airline based in Shanghai, owned 51 per cent by the Beijing Aerospace Satellite Applications Corporation, 25 per cent by Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd, and 24 per cent by Dahlia Investments Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd.

Sources told Business Line that the NOC was being issued after consultation with other Ministries, as there were apprehensions in some official quarters about the airline's operations. The Great Wall airline is keen to fly to at least two Indian cities but will have to wait for clearances from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation before it is allowed to start regular operations.

Flights by the Chinese cargo airline could also pave the way for the State-owned Indian to start regular services to Guangzhou in China. Initially, Indian plans to fly three times a week with an Airbus A-321 aircraft. The service is likely to be operated on a daily basis with the induction of more aircraft into the airline fleet.

Doubling Volume

Currently, Air India and at least two airlines from China operate regular passenger flights between the two nations.

Although trade relations between India and China are growing there are no direct air cargo services between the two countries.

In November last year, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Chinese President, Mr Hu Jintao, urged both nations to work towards doubling the volume of bilateral trade to $40 billion by 2010.

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