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S-E Asian airlines say open sky plan biased

Amrita Dhar in New Delhi

The civil aviation ministry's decision to allow only west European and US carriers to increase flights during the open sky period has raised the hackles of the south-east Asian airlines.

Most of these carriers say that if they were allowed by the policy they would increase their capacity by at least 10-15 per cent.

In fact, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines are planning to approach the ministry regarding its decision.

"We feel this is an extremely biased decision especially since the south-east Asian airlines are doing well. We plan to ask the ministry to look into the matter," a senior Cathay Pacific executive said. Malaysia Airlines is also going to seek a clarification on the issue.

The airlines evince that if the open sky policy had been extended to them they would increase their operations.

Malaysia Airlines said that it would have increased its capacity by 15-20 per cent, Thai Airlines said that it would have added at least 8 flights more, while Sri Lankan Airlines planned to upgrade at least 7 flights.

According to industry sources, the main reason why the south-east Asian airlines have been barred is to protect the markets of the national carriers.

Air-India operates 35 flights per week to south-east Asian destinations, while Indian Airlines operates 39 flights.

These operations account for almost 30 per cent of the national carriers revenue.

The ministry has adopted an open sky policy for the December to March period, but has extended the facility only to west European and US carriers.

This is the first time that India is opening up its skies for such a long period at a stretch. Prior to this, the open sky period used to be for a month at a time.

The rationale that the ministry is giving about its decision is that the main tourist traffic comes from Europe and US during the winter season.

"There is maximum tourist traffic to and from these areas during the winter season, therefore the decision. It is unlikely that we will review our decision," ministry officials said.

But industry sources differ with the government on this point. "Over the last year the tourist traffic has shifted from Europe and US to South-East Asia. In fact while the latter has seen an upswing in traffic by 25 per cent, Europe and US have seen an equal negative movement. The government has obviously not seen the trend," said Balbir Mayal, vice president Travel Agents Association of India.

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