Airline News
India reviews air bilaterals with the UAE, SpiceJet’s troubles deepen
December 16th 2014
For the past decade, Indian regulatory bodies have been generously granting flying rights to Middle Eastern carriers. However, things are looking to change as civil aviation minister Gajapathi Raju this month denied an Air Arabia request to operate an extra 14,000 weekly seats between the UAE and India. Read More »
A source close to the matter told India’s First Post that this was not the first time a rejection had occurred, as Raju has routinely denied new route applications or frequency increases from Middle Eastern carrier this year. The source said Emirates Airline had filed numerous applications to increase its points of call in India but none have been approved.
India and the UAE agreed to increase bilateral weekly seats between the two countries by 20% in March. Under the scheme, UAE carriers are allowed to offer 135,000 seats a week from 2015-2016. 26 Indian cities currently have direct air links with the UAE. In comparison, all European carriers combined are allotted 160,000 weekly seats.
Meanwhile, shares of India’s second largest low-cost airline, SpiceJet, fell as much as 12.9% last week after a news report said its executives will meet this Tuesday to discuss options for recapitalization. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation last week banned SpiceJet from selling advance tickets beyond a month and asked it to explain how it will settle its dues. The regulator also cancelled nearly 180 flight slots of the airline. SpiceJet has cut its fleet by one-third over the past six months and is believed to have approached Singapore’s Tigerair as a potential investor, The New Indian Express reports.
