Govt lifts freeze on private carriers flying abroad

After a lull, Indian air carriers will be able to increase their presence in the international skies connecting India and the world. The civil aviation ministry has allowed increasing utilisation of foreign bilateral rights for Indian carriers to 40 per cent from the summer schedule, starting April. This is roughly equal to the utilisation by foreign carriers.

"We have also allowed (our) carriers to start flights to a lot of new destinations, mainly in Africa," said Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.

Indian carriers are utilising only 22.7 per cent of the total foreign bilateral rights and foreign carriers were much ahead. The ministry has, for some time, not been allowing airlines to fly abroad, to protect the interest of government-owned Air India (AI), a loss-making concern.

The minister said flying to international destinations made more business sense for carriers. "The yields are much higher in international routes and the airline companies will benefit," he added.

India has signed bilateral rights with over 100 countries and there are 834,000 weekly seats on international air routes. Of the 22.7 per cent utilisation by Indian carriers, AI utilises 11.9 per cent and the other four private carriers that fly abroad utilise a combined average of 10.8 per cent. International carriers utilise 37.9 per cent of the total ceiling.

Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet have been looking for aggressive international expansion. Most of the requests from Indian carriers have been made for destinations in West Asia and Southeast Asia, where a lot of bilateral rights remain unutilised by the Indian side.

In the Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong sectors, international carriers are utilising 86 per cent, 72 per cent, 77 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively. Indian carriers utilise 12 per cent, 55 per cent, 39 per cent and 59 per cent of the seats on these routes.

Similarly in West Asia, Indian carriers have been able to utilise only 47 per cent on the route to Sharjah, 55 per cent in Dubai and 91 per cent in Oman, where international carriers have been able to utilise 93 per cent, 99 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively.

The Indian carriers have for long been complaining about the delay in allowing them to fly abroad.

"With the approvals, Indian carriers will be able to expand outside the country and increase yields through high ticket prices and increase in auxiliary revenue. The airline also saves cost by refuelling at a cheaper cost," said an industry insider, who did not want to be identified.