The government has decided to allow private non-scheduled airlines to partner with scheduled airlines, enabling the two to enter into marketing alliance and passenger booking. Currently, non-scheduled airlines such as Air One and Span Air are not allowed to publish their flight schedules, thus barring them to code-share with big carriers such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines.

The move is expected to bring several smaller cities and tourist spots in the country on aviation map and have multiplier effect on the economy.

?We have held meetings with the representatives of non-scheduled air-operators? permit (NSOP) holders. The idea has been discussed. The ministry has issued a large number of NSOPs to airline companies but the permits are largely underutilised. We think that if we allow non-scheduled air operators to code-share with scheduled carriers, the connectivity to remote areas would increase,? a senior civil aviation ministry official told FE.

There are nearly 120 non-scheduled airlines operating a fleet of 350 smaller aircraft, including helicopters. The number of non-scheduled air operators have grown multifold from 47 in 2005-06. The civil aviation ministry receives at least a dozen applications every month from private firms seeking permission to either import more aircraft or start non-scheduled air transport services.

?It (the idea of allowing non-scheduled airlines to code-share with scheduled airlines) is a win-win situation for everybody. While it would allow non-scheduled airlines to expand their network, the scheduled carriers would provide seamless connectivity to their passengers,? said Amber Dubey, director (aerospace & defence) at consultancy firm KPMG.

The ministry had earlier created a separate category of airline licence, called regional airlines, relaxing the eligibility criteria for launching an airline to provide air connectivity to more and more smaller cities, but the it has failed to take off.

?We see the aviation sector growing strongly in the long run. In this period new players would come and the existing players would expand their fleet and network. Our projection is that the traffic would grow 10% year-on-year,” Amadeus India managing director Ankur Bhatia said.

According to the directorate general of civil aviation, domestic air traffic grew 19% to 51.53 million in 2010 compared with 43.3 million in a year ago.