As per current guidelines, only airlines with five years of domestic operations behind them are eligible to fly abroad.
Emphasis should be on fleet and financial strength, rather than years, say officials
NEW DELHI: This could be music to the ears of Kingfisher promoter Vijay Mallya and Spice Jet’s Ajay Singh.
In the debate over a three-year vs five-year operation criterion for domestic carriers to be eligible to fly abroad, the civil aviation ministry favours a case-by-case approach.
Senior officials are of the opinion that instead of deciding the fate of carriers on the basis of how long they have serviced the domestic market, the emphasis should be on their fleet strength and financial health.
“Internationally, the eligibility of any domestic airline to fly overseas is decided on a case-by-case basis and this is what should happen here too. Any airline should not be allowed to fly overseas merely because it has serviced the domestic market for some years. Fleet strength and financial health should also be looked into,” said an official.
A group of ministers is currently studying the issue of allowing domestic carriers to fly abroad.
As per current guidelines, only airlines with five years of domestic operations behind them are eligible to fly abroad.
So, if the ministry were to have its way, Kingfisher and Spice Jet would be allowed to fly abroad much sooner than anticipated.
As on date, only Air India (the merged entity) and Jet Airways are eligible to service international traffic.
In fact, after the acquisition of Deccan earlier this year, Kingfisher could use the Deccan brand to satiate its overseas ambitions as early as August next year, since Deccan would have completed the mandatory five-year domestic operation criterion by then.
However, whether the DGCA would allow Kingfisher to do this on the Deccan licence remains unclear.
Industry experts say removing the restrictions on domestic carriers to fly abroad would help increase their market share of the international traffic.
Rough estimates peg the international traffic share of Air India and Jet combined at just about 25%. Also, allowing airlines that have a certain minimum fleet strength to fly overseas would automatically disqualify non-serious players.
Most domestic airlines (except Jet and Kingfisher) will need at least two to three years to have a fleet strength of say 20-30 planes. So, indirectly, the duration of domestic operations will also come into consideration.
On the proposed Greenfield Airport Policy, ministry officials said that big cities should have multiple airports.
“There is a case for increasing infrastructure, and allowing airports to develop in less than 150 km distance from an existing airport is only one of the issues that need examination. We will work out a comprehensive policy.”
This issue has come into the limelight after the ministry forwarded its recommendations on the proposed Taj International Airport at Zevar (Greater Noida), which would flout the 150 km norm.
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