Capacity on India-Asia routes to go up by October

INDIA'S private airlines Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet are set to add a large number of international flights by October, which are expected to ease fares. This is a long-awaited result of the Ministry of Civil Aviation's move to cease Air India's right of first refusal on overseas routes.

Having been granted permission for capacity increases, Jet Airways will add 14 weekly flights to Singapore, and seven each to Dhaka, Chittagong, Male and Dar-e-Salam. IndiGo will increase frequencies to Bangkok, Kathmandu and Singapore with 28 weekly flights. SpiceJet will start 35 additional weekly flights to Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kabul and Male.

Iqbal Mulla, president, Travel Agents Association of India, said: “It augurs well for fliers and travel companies, as the increase in flights will offer a wider choice of itineraries and bring fares down.”

Seema Ahmed, general manager, Gainwell Travel & Leisure, said: “With the private Indian carriers entering the fray to garner a larger share of the rapidly growing aviation market, airfares are expected to rationalise and consumer confidence will rise.”

According to government sources, the three private carriers will also allocate more flights to their Middle East routes.

Out of the 63 flights that IndiGo has received permission for, 28 will go to Dubai and seven to Jeddah. SpiceJet will fly seven flights each to Dubai and Riyadh of the 49 flights it has been given a nod to. Jet Airways has received the thumbs up for 56 new flights, of which 14 will be used for Kuwait.

Sourced: TTG Asia