India ready to relax rules over new entrant airlines

20 Jan 2014  2045 | World Travel News

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE- India could ease restrictions that prevent some of its domestic airlines from flying on international services within a month, potentially benefiting start-ups set up by Malaysia's AirAsia and Singapore Airlines that aim to begin operations in 2014.

New Delhi is also considering a proposal to allow Airbus's A380 planes to land at local airports, aviation minister Ajit Singh said on last Tuesday.

India's ban on A380s is mainly due to concerns that foreign carriers may further hurt state-run Air India by grabbing a larger share of international traffic.

Under existing rules, Indian carriers are also required to be in operation for at least five years and have 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly international routes.

Singh told reporters that New Delhi would seek the federal cabinet's approval by next month to "scrap this rule". "At a macro level, this restores credibility to the Indian aviation sector," said Amber Dubey, an aviation expert at consultancy KPMG, of the Indian government's plans.

"It shows that the policy direction is always towards greater competition, the respect for logic, and being more aligned to global best practices," he said.

Indian conglomerate Tata Sons has formed a joint venture with SIA to start up a full service carrier, which is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2014. Tata is also an investor in AirAsia India, which is expected to compete in the Indian low-cost market from the second half of the year. Indian low-cost carrier GoAir, which began operations in 2005 but has fewer than 20 aircraft, could also be a beneficiary.

However, AirAsia India might still need to show restraint and patience before flying. The Indian government has asked the public to raise fresh objections, if any, to granting budget airline AirAsia India, a licence to start commercial operations in the country, said a news report.

This is despite the venture having been cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and receiving the Civil Aviation Ministry’s no-objection certificate (NOC). The latest public notice was issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday, the Indian Express newspaper reported today.

Dubey said opening up the market to A380s could push down international fares as one aircraft can accommodate more passengers, keeping costs lower.

He said major airports in New Delhi and Mumbai were already in position to receive the super-jumbos, but smaller airports would need to be assessed to see if they can handle the planes.

Such a change could benefit carriers like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Lufthansa, British Airways as well as Gulf carriers Etihad and Qatar Airways who are due to take delivery of the aircraft until 2015. Prior to stop its operations, Indian private carrier Kingfisher Airlines was the only one to have ordered A380 to Airbus.

India's overall air passenger traffic is expected to triple from 2010-20 to 452 million annually, as rising income levels help more people fly in the country of 1.25 billion.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews

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