Wednesday, December 29 2004 20:43 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Breaking new grounds, Government today (Dec 29, 2004) decided to allow private carriers to fly to all international destinations, barring the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, "expand" the network of Indian Airlines (IA) abroad and synergise its operations with Air India (AI).

The Union Cabinet meeting today, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, put its seal of approval to this decision.

At present, the private airlines fly only to SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) countries Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Observing that there was a "visible" projection of a 25 per cent growth in passenger traffic in the near future, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, briefing the media on the Cabinet decision, said the private carriers, with five years of domestic operational experience and 20 aircraft in their fleet, would be allowed to fly abroad.

He said only Jet Airways and Air Sahara qualify under these conditions, and ruled out objections by UB Group chief Vijay Mallya that new Indian carriers should also be allowed to fly abroad.

"Since all airlines operating to foreign destinations will be Indian flag carriers, they should have a minimum flying experience. These private carriers have established themselves well and together have almost 60 per cent of the domestic market," he said.

The Cabinet also decided to discontinue the practice of mandating commercial agreements on all new services and review the existing commercial agreements, aiming at phasing them out over the next five years.