Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 |
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Airlines Logistics - Airlines `Open sky' for two more years Ashwini Phadnis
NEW DELHI, June 16 IN a move aimed at benefiting both international airlines and air travellers, the Ministry of Civil Aviation intends to extend the limited "open sky" policy during the peak travel season for the next two years. Official sources told Business Line that the limited open sky policy will be announced well in advance so that international airlines from North America and Western Europe which are entitled to make use of the offer do not have any problems in operating more flights to meet the growing passenger demand. This was decided at a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting held here today which was attended, among others, by the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Mr Jagmohan, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Ravishankar Prasad, the Civil Aviation Secretary, Mr K. Roy Paul, and other senior officials. An official announcement on the decision is expected when the newly appointed Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, returns shortly from an official trip, officials indicated. During the `limited open sky' period, airlines from specified regions are allowed to operate either additional flights or fly bigger aircraft so as to ensure that international air passengers do not find it difficult to travel to and from India. The current `limited open sky' offer of the Government ends on June 30. Under the existing `open sky' arrangement, international airlines have to reach a commercial agreement with Air India (AI) before they are allowed to operate additional flights. The move, when implemented, will go a long way in helping international airlines better plan more flights to and from India during the peak season. Earlier, when India had followed a `limited open sky' policy, not many international airlines were able to utilise the offer as the Government announcement was made far too late for the airlines to change their global schedules to put aircraft on the India route. Several international airlines, including the German airlines, Lufthansa, and the British airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, are making use of the existing offer by operating additional flights between Bangalore and Frankfurt and Delhi-London, respectively. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, however, did not agree with another proposal to follow a `limited open sky' policy for airlines of the 15 countries, including Sri Lanka, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Nepal and South Korea which are the top tourist markets for India.
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