vinayak
21st Jul 2009, 09:45
Budget carriers such as SpiceJet and Indigo can take heart. The civil aviation ministry has once again got around to the view that the eligibility criterion for allowing domestic carriers to fly abroad should be relaxed to three years.
At present, any carrier wishing to fly overseas must have completed at least five years of domestic operations (besides some other criteria on fleet size etc) before it can seek permission to fly out of India.
Official sources confirmed on Monday that the ministry could soon send a note to the Union Cabinet, reiterating its support of the three-year domestic operation clause which forms an important aspect of the much delayed civil aviation policy. The renewed thrust on allowing more Indian carriers to fly abroad comes when the ministry had already revived a proposal to allow foreign airlines to pick up equity in Indian carriers.
It also stems from the thinking that any domestic carrier which can fly domestic long haul such as Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram is also eligible to fly routes on the Middle East and Far East sectors from most destinations within India.
Sources said the ministry had forwarded this very opinion to the Cabinet earlier also, but the Cabinet had then referred this matter to a Group of Ministers (GoM). Now, with the new government in place, that GoM stands dissolved and, therefore, this crucial aspect of the civil aviation policy hangs in balance.
In the last round, civil aviation minister Praful Patel had, at one point, suggested a case by case approval for any airline which has not completed five years of domestic operation but wants to fly overseas. But the old GoM, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, had wavered since many of its members had opposed any relaxation in norms. Though many had hinted that any relaxation in norms at that point would only favour Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher then went ahead to merge Air Deccan with itself and thus got rights to fly overseas last year.
Now, it seems both IndiGo and SpiceJet are keen to fly to some neighbouring countries but the five year clause has held them back.
SpiceJet will qualify under the mandatory five year domestic flying clause in the next 8-9 months and has already begun evaluating overseas flights. It has already expressed interest in beginning international operations to the ministry.
And while IndiGo's chief financial officer Riyaz Peermohamed did not immediately answer an e-mail seeking comments on his carrier's plans to fly abroad, official sources pointed out that both these carriers may want to operate flights on the Middle East and Far East sectors where Indian carriers are unable to fully utilize the seats available under bilateral rights.
Three of the largest Indian carriers - the merged Air India, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways - are already operating on international routes but in many instances they have been unable to exhaust the seats granted under bilaterals.
Flight overseas likely to get easier for airlines (http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_flight-overseas-likely-to-get-easier-for-airlines_1275857)
At present, any carrier wishing to fly overseas must have completed at least five years of domestic operations (besides some other criteria on fleet size etc) before it can seek permission to fly out of India.
Official sources confirmed on Monday that the ministry could soon send a note to the Union Cabinet, reiterating its support of the three-year domestic operation clause which forms an important aspect of the much delayed civil aviation policy. The renewed thrust on allowing more Indian carriers to fly abroad comes when the ministry had already revived a proposal to allow foreign airlines to pick up equity in Indian carriers.
It also stems from the thinking that any domestic carrier which can fly domestic long haul such as Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram is also eligible to fly routes on the Middle East and Far East sectors from most destinations within India.
Sources said the ministry had forwarded this very opinion to the Cabinet earlier also, but the Cabinet had then referred this matter to a Group of Ministers (GoM). Now, with the new government in place, that GoM stands dissolved and, therefore, this crucial aspect of the civil aviation policy hangs in balance.
In the last round, civil aviation minister Praful Patel had, at one point, suggested a case by case approval for any airline which has not completed five years of domestic operation but wants to fly overseas. But the old GoM, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, had wavered since many of its members had opposed any relaxation in norms. Though many had hinted that any relaxation in norms at that point would only favour Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher then went ahead to merge Air Deccan with itself and thus got rights to fly overseas last year.
Now, it seems both IndiGo and SpiceJet are keen to fly to some neighbouring countries but the five year clause has held them back.
SpiceJet will qualify under the mandatory five year domestic flying clause in the next 8-9 months and has already begun evaluating overseas flights. It has already expressed interest in beginning international operations to the ministry.
And while IndiGo's chief financial officer Riyaz Peermohamed did not immediately answer an e-mail seeking comments on his carrier's plans to fly abroad, official sources pointed out that both these carriers may want to operate flights on the Middle East and Far East sectors where Indian carriers are unable to fully utilize the seats available under bilateral rights.
Three of the largest Indian carriers - the merged Air India, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways - are already operating on international routes but in many instances they have been unable to exhaust the seats granted under bilaterals.
Flight overseas likely to get easier for airlines (http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_flight-overseas-likely-to-get-easier-for-airlines_1275857)