12-Nov-2012 8:47 AM

Civil Aviation Minister Shri Ajit Singh Approves Traffic Rights to Indian Carriers for Three Seasons

Direct News Source

09-Nov-2012

Introduction of New International Sectors and Progressive Increase in Number of Flights to Boost Growth of Indian Carriers;
Fresh Bilateral Negotiations Proposed for Additional Traffic Rights

Opening up of several new international sectors and progressive increase in number of flights are major highlights of the new international traffic rights approved by Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh for allocation to Indian carriers for the next three seasons i.e. winter 2012, summer 2013 and winter 2013. The new allocations are expected to give a major boost to Indian carriers and spur growth of the Indian civil aviation sector as a whole by considerably improving connectivity of Indian cities with international destinations.

As the allocation for Air India and Air India Express for winter 2012 had already been approved, the present approvals for them cover summer and winter 2013. Air India and Air India Express have been allocated all traffic rights as per their requets by giving them priority over all other Indian carriers. The following tables give details of the traffic rights allocated to airlines in terms of services per week (s/w):

Air India and Air India Express:

Name of the Airline	Traffic Rights upto Summer 2012	Traffic Rights upto Winter 2012	Traffic Rights upto Summer 2013	Traffic Rights upto Winter 2013
Air India & Air India Express	471 (s/w)	577 (s/w)	650 (s/w)	691 (s/w)

Other Airlines:

Name of the Airline	Traffic Rights upto Summer 2012	Traffic Rights upto Winter 2012	Traffic Rights upto Summer 2013	Traffic Rights upto Winter 2013
Jet Airways	417 (s/w)	497 (s/w)	539 (s/w)	602 (s/w)
Indigo	116 (s/w)	137 (s/w)	151 (s/w)	172 (s/w)
Spicejet	70 (s/w)	130 (s/w)	186 (s/w)	230 (s/w)
Total (Other Airlines)	603 (s/w)	764 (s/w)	876 (s/w)	1004 (s/w)
Total (All Airlines)	1074 (s/w)	1341 (s/w)	1526 (s/w)	1695 (s/w)

The traffic rights have been allocated to Indian carriers on the following routes for the first time:

Air India:

Delhi-Rome-Madrid/ Barcelona; Delhi-Moscow; Delhi-Sydney/ Melbourne; Mumbai-Nairobi, Mumbai-Al Najaf (Iraq)

Jet Airways:

Mumbai-Jakarta; Delhi-Barcelona; Mumbai-Zurich; Delhi-Tashkent; Mumbai-Ho Chi Minh City

Spicejet:

Lucknow- Al Najaf (Iraq); Varanasi- Al Najaf (Iraq); Delhi-Macau; Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City

With the allocation of new traffic rights the increase in traffic entitlements of airlines is approximately 60% over the existing traffic rights in next three seasons. Increase in number of international flights will also enhance competitiveness among airlines and is expected to bring down fares benefitting passengers. Further, advance approval for the next three seasons will help airlines to plan their schedules in time, get timely approvals and necessary clearances from authorities including those from destination countries.

Fresh bilateral negotiations proposed:

Shri Singh has also directed to hold fresh bilateral negotiations to explore possibilities of enhancing additional traffic rights with those countries with whom existing traffic rights have almost got exhausted. These include Singapore, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Macao and Afghanistan.