Air India will no longer enjoy a priority in allocation of international traffic rights. This follows its takeover by Tata Sons in January.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has dropped a clause which gave Air India an advantage over other private airlines in the amended rules issued on April 19.
The rules deal with eligibility criteria of airlines for application of traffic rights, procedure for allocation, utilisation and penalties for nonuse.
The earlier rule said that “due consideration shall be given to operational plans submitted by Air India before allocation of the traffic rights to other eligible applicants.”
This clause has now been removed following the privatization of Air India. “All the airlines will now be on an equal footing. This is a positive step,” remarked an executive of a private airline.
Governments negotiate bilateral air service agreements with each other. These determine the number of flights and destinations that airlines can operate between two countries. These entitlements which are in the form of number seats or flights per week are exchanged on a reciprocal basis. In India the entitlements are held by the government and granted to an airline upon request.
India has signed air service agreements with 121 countries. The civil aviation ministry has signed separate agreements with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah though they are part of the United Arab Emirates.
Before the pandemic India was connected with non stop flights with around 55 countries. That number has dropped further in the summer schedule which came into effect from March end.
Air India and Air India Express have secured approvals to operate 361 and 340 international departures per week in the summer schedule. These include flights within Asia and to Australia, Europe and North America. Flights to Russia were suspended recently over issues related to aircraft insurance.
Air India was only partially utilizing the seats allocated to it on routes to Malaysia, Singapore and West Asia, according to the bid document released in January 2020.
Air India did not respond to an email query on the issue.
“The rule was especially beneficial when demand for seats was higher than available entitlement. On such occasions Air India would be granted the number of seats it wished and other private airlines would be asked to moderate their requirements,” a source said.
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.