The Hindu Business Line : Norms for domestic airlines flying abroad may be reviewed

New Delhi May 10 The Government plans to review by the end of the year the current norms for domestic airlines flying abroad , the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, said here on Thursday.

"We could review the norms for allowing airlines from India to go abroad when a review is done for allowing only Indian and Air India to fly to the Gulf region.There is, however, unlikely to be any blanket review for allowing airlines from India to fly abroad. We will look at country-specific proposals," the Minister said.

In December 2004, the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal allowing airlines with five years of domestic operations and a fleet of 20 aircraft to fly anywhere abroad except the Gulf region.

It was also decided then that Indian, Air India and their subsidiaries would be the only Indian carriers allowed to fly to the Gulf region till December this year.

The Minister added that by July 15 this year a single company would be in place to run the merged airline.

"The merger will be beneficial as not only will it create one big airline with a modern fleet of aircraft, but it will also cut down costs. Already the rationalisation of routes between AI and Indian has led to an annual saving of Rs 80 crore on the India-Kuwait route alone," Mr Patel said.

Civil aviation policy: The Minister added that the civil aviation policy, for which inter-ministerial consultations have been completed, would be sent to the Union Cabinet soon.

"We are calling it vision 2020 as it lays down a vision for the sector," the Minister said.