Govt in dilemma over allowing A380 flights

The government seems to be in two minds on whether to allow some foreign carriers to start commercial flights on the A380, the world’s largest aircraft.

Domestic airlines have been lobbying against any such move, saying one A380 flight could wipe out the entire passenger traffic from Europe or other lucrative destinations on any given day since it can carry 517 passengers in one go.

Now, the ministry of civil aviation is considering whether to allow A380 flights from the upcoming winter schedule but any quick decision is unlikely.

Bilaterals or flying entitlements to foreign carriers has been a sore point with Indian airlines for long, since they feel that enhanced capacities on foreign airlines adversely affect their own international passenger loads.

With the A380 threat looming large, domestic carriers’ worries have only grown. As of now, Kingfisher is the only Indian airline company to have ordered an A380 and delivery of the aircraft to the UB Group airline is scheduled for 2015-16. Various other carriers, including Air India, are said to be exploring the option of acquiring the A380.

According to sources, a prominent European carrier requested for permission to bring in the big bird almost one year back but the ministry has not given it permission till date.

And even though Emirates Airline brought in a showcase A380 flight today at the new integrated terminal at the Delhi airport, Emirates officials said they were yet to study the market potential before deciding on whether to launch a commercial flight from India any time soon.

Emirates has not approached the Government for permission to bring in this jumbo till now.

Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ senior vice-president, commercial operations, West Asia, said here that limited aircraft availability and a need to assess the market were holding the carrier back from launching A380 flights to India in the near future.

Besides, Emirates is already using all of its seat entitlements for India at 45,000 seats per month.

Meanwhile, official sources point out that there were many difficulties before A380 flights would be allowed into the country.

“First of all, MoUs with different countries whose airlines want to bring in this aircraft will have to be amended. The current MoUs are based on the premise that the maximum aircraft size does not exceed a 747”.

Then, one A380 flight a day would wipe out the entire traffic to Europe in a day, they said adding there would then no other airline would be able to operate viably in that route. “Even the airport operator does not want A380 flights because it will reduce the number of flights using the airport……overall, it does not make sense just now”.