International flight rights of Indian airlines: privatized Air India loses preferential status

New Delhi: Privatization Air India It will not have priority in obtaining international flight rights under bilateral agreements between India and other countries, and all Indian airlines will now be on an equal footing.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised the guidance in this regard by dropping the provision that was for the former state-owned. Maharaja: “Due consideration shall be given to the operational plans submitted by Air India before allocating rights of way to other eligible applicants.”
The regulator released, on April 19, 2022, revised rules to grant permission for scheduled international flights to Indian airlines that can qualify to do so after meeting the 0/20 requirement – there is no maximum years of operation but has at least 20 aircraft in the fleet.
Tatas acquired AI and AI Express three months ago. Alliance Air, which will soon be privatized, as an entire turboprop fleet.
Due to the poor financial position of the majority of Indian airlines, underuse of the flight rights granted to them has been a common phenomenon in the past few years.
When airlines that want to add flights approach the Ministry for approval to do so, the first approval will be obtained from AI if they plan to operate on that specific route(s).
“This was delaying the whole process and adding to the problem that airlines were not using flight rights to the detriment of those who could have done so,” said people familiar with the matter.
The demand for international aviation rights will soon increase as in the framework stammerAir India and AI Express are expected to add international flights.
IndiGo had significant international expansion plans as of mid-2024.
billionaire investor Rakesh JonghunwalaThe upcoming Akasa hopes to have a fleet of 20 aircraft by next year, after which it will seek international flight rights. Therefore, this move comes ahead of the expected rise in demand.
In this case, the only requirement is that airlines operate the flight rights they are seeking and not sit on them without posting flights.
“The rights of passage assigned to an airline for a given time period must be used entirely by it during the same schedule period. Failure to do so will result in the unused rights being returned to the Ministry of Aviation at the end of the schedule period for which they are allotted and the ministry will be free to allocate them to other airlines. The delinquent airline may also apply again, if desired, but its priority in allocating rights will be considered the lowest among all applicants,” the Guidelines say.
In the event that airlines apply for routes beyond the services permitted under bilateral agreements or Air Service Agreements (ASA) between India and the country of destination, preference will be given to flights connecting small cities directly to foreign destinations. “In the event that the rights of passage available are not sufficient to cover the requirements in the applications, an allotment shall first be made to satisfy the requirements in any application for operations from a non-metro airport…”