Indian carriers, led by Jet Airways, have asked for
55,191 weekly seats to Abu Dhabi till 2015-16, a four-fold rise over the
present arrangement.
Jet has asked for
the bulk of the seats, at 41,797. This huge demand has raised apprehensions among
other carriers, as well as private airports.
Talks between Jet
and Etihad, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, of which Abu
Dhabi is a constituent, have been on for months. The deal being negotiated is a
24 per cent stake purchase by Etihad in Jet.
Under the current
entitlement between India and Abu Dhabi, 13,330 seats are there, with a
flexibility of increasing by two per cent. With 82 flights a week, Indian
carriers have exhausted their quota.
With Jet operating
4,285 seats, it is seeking 10 times the entitlement. Etihad has been operating
62 flights to India and is utilising 11,380 seats.
A senior
government official told Business Standard, “On an immediate basis, the Abu
Dhabi government has asked for removal of the existing cap of seven weekly
frequencies each on Mumbai and Delhi. A transfer of the residual entitlement of
995 weekly seats from Mumbai and Kolkata combined to Hyderabad has also been
sought.”
On a medium-term
basis, apart from seeking an increase in the entitlements to 25,000 weekly
seats phased over the next three years, their government has asked for three
new points of call, at Pune, Amritsar and Goa, the official added.
On the request of
the UAE, the designated airline of Abu Dhabi has been permitted an unutilised
capacity entitlement of 980 seats a week to and from Chennai and
Thiruvananthapuram, for flights from Hyderabad.
Earlier, Jet had also been granted permission for a code
share arrangement with Etihad Airways, to carry each other’s marketing flight
codes on their respective services between Indian point of calls and Abu Dhabi.
Etihad has always
been a pygmy compared to Emirates and Qatar, which rule the West Asian market.
It has 67 aircraft, a third of Emirates and half of Qatar. In India, too, with
less than two per cent of the international market, it is a minor entity
compared to Emirates (13 per cent share) and Qatar (five per cent). Etihad has
62 weekly flights to and from India, way below Emirates and Qatar.
Experts believe
Etihad can feed in passengers seamlessly from Abu Dhabi across the country, by
using Jet Airways’ wide coverage of 53 cities in India. Currently, Etihad
operates to only 10 cities in India. Similarly, Jet could bring in passengers
from Indian cities to Abu Dhabi, from where they could travel to any
destination in West Asia and Africa, where Etihad has excellent connectivity.
Jet can also
leverage Etihad’s strong presence in Europe by bringing in Indian passengers
through Abu Dhabi. Jet currently operates only to Brussels, Milan and London in
Europe on its own. (Through code-share agreements with Brussels Airlines and
Thalys, the high-speed European train operator, it offers connectivity to
another 14 cities.) Etihad has a huge network in Europe; it directly flies to
17 destinations and through its elaborate code-share agreements with 13
airlines, offers connectivity to 88 cities.
Air India opposes
Jet’s demand might
hurt Air India’s turnaround plan, the carrier said in a letter to the aviation
ministry, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited government officials.
This is not the
only route which could be an advantage to both airlines. The India-North
America market is one of the largest and most lucrative. Jet currently flies
only to Newark and Toronto and through a code-share with United and Air Canada,
offers connectivity to all key markets in North America. Etihad can provide an
alternative to Indian flyers; they can fly from Abu Dhabi to Chicago, New York
and Washington, apart from Toronto. And, through its code share agreement with
American Airlines, it would allow Indians to fly all over the US.
