The aviation ministry will review the status of flights and routes being operated by domestic carriers under the current bilateral air-service agreements with different countries.
The ministry has asked airlines, including Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher, IndiGo and SpiceJet, to submit details of number of flights they operate to particular countries against what they are permitted to, the frequencies and routes that they would like to add to their international network in the next season. The airlines have to send these details in the next 15 days.
?We want the Indian carriers to benefit from such agreements. Once we evaluate the exact status and know what they (airlines) want, we would try to work out the next schedule accordingly,? a senior ministry official said.
The review would put the requests from various foreign airlines, such as Emirates, Qatar, to be allowed to expand in the country, on hold. Aviation minister Ajit Singh has already made it clear at various forums that the government would not allow any foreign carrier to increase its frequency unless domestic airlines enhance their network under the bilateral air-traffic agreements.
International airlines, especially those from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman, through their respective governments, have been trying to seek Indian authorities’ nod to expand their network in India. The aviation ministry official said the Gulf carriers were already allowed to fly from 7-8 cities in India. ?Most of them are even flying to their maximum limit, entitled under the agreements. We can allow anyone to extend further, unless our carriers reach their limits,? the official said.