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Indian domestic airlines to have sky marshals

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on Wednesday ordered the country's three domestic airlines to carry sky marshals, or armed plainclothes agents, in the wake of the hijacked plane attacks in the United States.

State-owned Indian Airlines began placing marshalls on a few of its flights after one of its planes was hijacked in 1999 to Kandahar in southwestern Afghanistan, leaving one passenger dead.

Indian Airlines is the country's biggest domestic carrier, with a fleet of 55 aircraft.

The bureau's order now extends to the private Jet Airways, India's No 2 airline, and tiny Air Sahara, both of which will now have to place government security agents on random flights.

"All airlines operating on the domestic sector have been ordered to carry sky marshals," Veeranna Aivalli, commissioner of security at the bureau, said.

But he did not say whether Indian Airlines would increase the number of flights on which it carries the agents or how the flights would be chosen.

The government came under pressure to increase security on Indian Airlines' flights after the 1999 hijacking, which ended after a week when New Delhi freed three Kashmiri militants in return for the release of the 155 hostages.

Jet Airways said it had agreed to comply with the bureau's latest order.

"We've said yes to the sky marshals system with immediate effect," said an airline spokesman. "Almost 85-90 per cent of our flights will carry sky marshals."

Jet operates 221 flights daily to 44 destinations. Its fleet comprises 29 Boeing 737 aircraft and six propellor-driven planes.

Air Sahara, which owns a fleet of six Boeing 737s, said it was discussing the order with the bureau.

AIR-INDIA

The aviation bureau has also sought approvals from other nations for allowing India to place sky marshals on its state-run long-haul carrier's flights.

"The moment we get their approval, we'll have sky marshals on Air-India aircraft also," he said.

Air-India, in which the government is trying to sell a 40 per cent stake, flies mostly to Gulf countries and south-east Asia with a 27 aircraft fleet.

It also has a daily flight to London and is operating eight flights a week to the United States.

The US attacks on September 11 threw the airline industry worldwide into crisis, with most facing added security and insurance costs and announcing job cuts and reduced schedules.

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