International flight rights to Indian carriers: Privatized Air India loses preferential status
NEW DELHI: Privatized Air India will no longer have priority in obtaining international flight rights under India’s bilateral agreements with other countries and all Indian carriers will now be on the same footing.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has revised the guidelines in this regard by deleting the clause which was intended for the former state-owned company Maharaja: “Due consideration will be given to the operational plans submitted by Air India before traffic allocation. rights to other eligible candidates.
The regulator on April 19, 2022 issued the revised rules to grant permission for scheduled international flights to Indian carriers who can qualify to do so after meeting the 0/20 requirement – no cap on years of service. operating but having a minimum of 20 aircraft in the fleet.
The Tatas took over AI and AI Express three months ago. Alliance Air, which as a fully turboprop fleet will soon be privatized.
Given the poor financial health of a majority of Indian carriers, underutilization of flight rights granted to them has been a common occurrence in recent years.
When airlines wishing to add flights contacted the ministry to do so, first consent would be obtained from AI if it planned to operate on that particular route(s).
“It delayed the whole process and added to the problem of airlines underutilizing flight rights to the detriment of those who could have,” people in the know said.
The demand for international flight rights will soon increase as under the Tata, Air India and AI Express are expected to add international routes.
IndiGo had major international expansion plans starting in mid-2024.
Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s next Akasa hopes to have a fleet of 20 planes by next year and will then apply for international flight rights. This decision therefore comes just before the expected increase in demand.
In this situation, the only requirement is that airlines must exploit the flight rights they want and not sit on them without deploying flights.
“The traffic rights allocated to an airline for a particular time period must be fully utilized by it during the same time period. Otherwise, the unused rights will revert to the Ministry of Aviation at the end of the programming period for which they were allocated and the Ministry will be free to allocate them to other airlines. The defaulting airline may also submit a new application, if it wishes, but its priority for the allocation of rights will be considered the lowest among all applicants,” the guidelines state.
In case airlines request itineraries which go beyond the services permitted by bilateral agreements or Air Services Agreements (ASAs) between India and the country of destination, preference will be given to flights directly linking the small towns to foreign destinations. “In the event that the traffic rights available are not sufficient to cover the needs reflected in the applications, allocation shall first be made to satisfy the requirement contained in any application for operation from a non-metropolitan airport…”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has revised the guidelines in this regard by deleting the clause which was intended for the former state-owned company Maharaja: “Due consideration will be given to the operational plans submitted by Air India before traffic allocation. rights to other eligible candidates.
The regulator on April 19, 2022 issued the revised rules to grant permission for scheduled international flights to Indian carriers who can qualify to do so after meeting the 0/20 requirement – no cap on years of service. operating but having a minimum of 20 aircraft in the fleet.
The Tatas took over AI and AI Express three months ago. Alliance Air, which as a fully turboprop fleet will soon be privatized.
Given the poor financial health of a majority of Indian carriers, underutilization of flight rights granted to them has been a common occurrence in recent years.
When airlines wishing to add flights contacted the ministry to do so, first consent would be obtained from AI if it planned to operate on that particular route(s).
“It delayed the whole process and added to the problem of airlines underutilizing flight rights to the detriment of those who could have,” people in the know said.
The demand for international flight rights will soon increase as under the Tata, Air India and AI Express are expected to add international routes.
IndiGo had major international expansion plans starting in mid-2024.
Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s next Akasa hopes to have a fleet of 20 planes by next year and will then apply for international flight rights. This decision therefore comes just before the expected increase in demand.
In this situation, the only requirement is that airlines must exploit the flight rights they want and not sit on them without deploying flights.
“The traffic rights allocated to an airline for a particular time period must be fully utilized by it during the same time period. Otherwise, the unused rights will revert to the Ministry of Aviation at the end of the programming period for which they were allocated and the Ministry will be free to allocate them to other airlines. The defaulting airline may also submit a new application, if it wishes, but its priority for the allocation of rights will be considered the lowest among all applicants,” the guidelines state.
In case airlines request itineraries which go beyond the services permitted by bilateral agreements or Air Services Agreements (ASAs) between India and the country of destination, preference will be given to flights directly linking the small towns to foreign destinations. “In the event that the traffic rights available are not sufficient to cover the needs reflected in the applications, allocation shall first be made to satisfy the requirement contained in any application for operation from a non-metropolitan airport…”