Ajit Singh says the move was made keeping “passenger convenience” in mind as more foreign carriers would increase options for fliers.
NEW DELHI: Defending the move to allow UAE city-state Abu Dhabi's airlines increased access to the Indian market, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh says the move was made keeping "passenger convenience" in mind as more foreign carriers would increase options for fliers and bring down airfares on overseas routes. "Everyone has been criticising revision of bilateral traffic rights between India and Abu Dhabi. We looked at passenger convenience in doing it and, therefore, revision of bilateral rights is important," Singh told ET.
Last week, in the backdrop of the financial deal between the Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi's national carrier Etihad, the two regions decided to raise air capacity by 36,670 seats per week from the existing 13,300 seats per week, sparking concerns among the local airlines and private airports. "Why should everyone come to Delhi to catch a flight? Why can't we have a direct overseas flight from Muzzaffarpur? Increase in competition among foreign airlines and cheaper operations from regional airports, where state governments are ready to offer a lot of tax benefits, will ultimately help bring fares down," "Air India's problem is high costs, which they will have to cut. They have offices and staff all over the world without having even a single flight at some places.
Growth of international traffic, according to AI's own projections, is 10% per annum and there's a lot of scope for everyone to service this," he said.
Comptroller and Auditor General, in its report on Air India in 2011, had pointed out how Air India had lost out on international air traffic due to generous grant of traffic rights to foreign airlines, especially from Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and other Gulf and South East Asian countries. Till date, Gulf airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, which are gateway carriers, dominate air routes between India and the Middle East to an extent that 40% of total west-bound Indian traffic is routed through the Gulf. Latest official statistics corroborate this showing how Emirates garnered a lion's share of the total Indian passengers in 2011-12 at 13.04% market share. No wonder then that the national auditor recommended that the ministry of civil aviation could look at "options for rollback of excess entitlement granted beyond genuine traffic requirements." the minister said. Singh said more access to foreign carriers would enable direct flights to overseas locations from small towns improving air connectivity and means of transport for all.Revision in air capacity granted to Abu Dhabi will help their official carrier Etihad attain equal footing with Dubai's airline Emirates, which now has 54,200 seats per week into India. Air India CMD Rohit Nandan had last week told ET about his apprehension of other foreign carriers, especially Dubai's Emirates, pushing more aggressively for increase in their traffic rights too as they've been requesting the same for the past one year. The minister brushed aside Air India's concerns arguing that Etihad's increased India operations "will give more headaches to Emirates than Air India.""Air India's problem is high costs, which they will have to cut. They have offices and staff all over the world without having even a single flight at some places. Growth of international traffic, according to AI's own projections, is 10% per annum and there's a lot of scope for everyone to service this," he said. Comptroller and Auditor General, in its report on Air India in 2011, had pointed out how Air India had lost out on international air traffic due to generous grant of traffic rights to foreign airlines, especially from Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and other Gulf and South East Asian countries.Till date, Gulf airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, which are gateway carriers, dominate air routes between India and the Middle East to an extent that 40% of total west-bound Indian traffic is routed through the Gulf. Latest official statistics corroborate this showing how Emirates garnered a lion's share of the total Indian passengers in 2011-12 at 13.04% market share. No wonder then that the national auditor recommended that the ministry of civil aviation could look at "options for rollback of excess entitlement granted beyond genuine traffic requirements."
http://m.economictimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/increased-access-to-etihad-to-benefit-fliers-ajit-singh/articleshow/19811742.cms
NEW DELHI: Defending the move to allow UAE city-state Abu Dhabi's airlines increased access to the Indian market, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh says the move was made keeping "passenger convenience" in mind as more foreign carriers would increase options for fliers and bring down airfares on overseas routes. "Everyone has been criticising revision of bilateral traffic rights between India and Abu Dhabi. We looked at passenger convenience in doing it and, therefore, revision of bilateral rights is important," Singh told ET.
Last week, in the backdrop of the financial deal between the Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways and Abu Dhabi's national carrier Etihad, the two regions decided to raise air capacity by 36,670 seats per week from the existing 13,300 seats per week, sparking concerns among the local airlines and private airports. "Why should everyone come to Delhi to catch a flight? Why can't we have a direct overseas flight from Muzzaffarpur? Increase in competition among foreign airlines and cheaper operations from regional airports, where state governments are ready to offer a lot of tax benefits, will ultimately help bring fares down," "Air India's problem is high costs, which they will have to cut. They have offices and staff all over the world without having even a single flight at some places.
Growth of international traffic, according to AI's own projections, is 10% per annum and there's a lot of scope for everyone to service this," he said.
Comptroller and Auditor General, in its report on Air India in 2011, had pointed out how Air India had lost out on international air traffic due to generous grant of traffic rights to foreign airlines, especially from Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and other Gulf and South East Asian countries. Till date, Gulf airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, which are gateway carriers, dominate air routes between India and the Middle East to an extent that 40% of total west-bound Indian traffic is routed through the Gulf. Latest official statistics corroborate this showing how Emirates garnered a lion's share of the total Indian passengers in 2011-12 at 13.04% market share. No wonder then that the national auditor recommended that the ministry of civil aviation could look at "options for rollback of excess entitlement granted beyond genuine traffic requirements." the minister said. Singh said more access to foreign carriers would enable direct flights to overseas locations from small towns improving air connectivity and means of transport for all.Revision in air capacity granted to Abu Dhabi will help their official carrier Etihad attain equal footing with Dubai's airline Emirates, which now has 54,200 seats per week into India. Air India CMD Rohit Nandan had last week told ET about his apprehension of other foreign carriers, especially Dubai's Emirates, pushing more aggressively for increase in their traffic rights too as they've been requesting the same for the past one year. The minister brushed aside Air India's concerns arguing that Etihad's increased India operations "will give more headaches to Emirates than Air India.""Air India's problem is high costs, which they will have to cut. They have offices and staff all over the world without having even a single flight at some places. Growth of international traffic, according to AI's own projections, is 10% per annum and there's a lot of scope for everyone to service this," he said. Comptroller and Auditor General, in its report on Air India in 2011, had pointed out how Air India had lost out on international air traffic due to generous grant of traffic rights to foreign airlines, especially from Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and other Gulf and South East Asian countries.Till date, Gulf airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, which are gateway carriers, dominate air routes between India and the Middle East to an extent that 40% of total west-bound Indian traffic is routed through the Gulf. Latest official statistics corroborate this showing how Emirates garnered a lion's share of the total Indian passengers in 2011-12 at 13.04% market share. No wonder then that the national auditor recommended that the ministry of civil aviation could look at "options for rollback of excess entitlement granted beyond genuine traffic requirements."
http://m.economictimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/increased-access-to-etihad-to-benefit-fliers-ajit-singh/articleshow/19811742.cms
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