Saturday, January 22 2005 18:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a bid to prevent non-serious airlines from operating abroad, the Government has decided to ban Indian carriers from flying on a particular route for two years if they fail to fully utilise the rights granted for that route.

Under new guidelines finalised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday (Jan 21, 2005), the entitlements on foreign routes could also be reviewed in case any of the airlines, permitted to fly internationally, reduce their domestic operations, official sources said.

At a meeting in New Delhi today, top officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry (CAM) briefed senior representatives of Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara about the new guidelines and wanted further information on the new issues from them within a week, they said.

These four airlines, which qualify to operate on global routes, have already submitted their operational plans for the ensuing summer season and the winter schedule.

However, the Ministry now wants them to provide more details about their plans within a week to enable it give a final nod to their international operations.

These include whether they have the required number and size of aircraft, details on the pilots who will operate on foreign routes, arrangements of these operations, availability of slots and maintenance facilities at foreign destinations.

Under the new guidelines, the allocation of traffic rights to scheduled airlines would depend on the availability of traffic rights to particular countries.

If the total entitlements fall short of the requirements projected by the eligible airlines, the allocation of entitlements would be made on the basis of the average seat per kilometres (ASKMs) deployed by the airlines on domestic routes over last five years, the sources said.

The ASKMs in the domestic sector would be determined twice a year on Jan one and July one.

The traffic rights allotted to a particular airline in a year would have to be utilised in the same period. The airline's failure to utilise traffic rights once granted would lead to a ban of two years on that route, they said.

Entitlements to a scheduled carrier may be reviewed if any of them reduced the domestic operations after obtaining the traffic rights on international routes, the sources said.

Notwithstanding these guidelines, the Government would have the discretion to permit or deny allocation of rights in view of the preparedness of the airlines, viability of their operations and overall interests of the civil aviation sector in the country, they said.

Airline officials who attended the meeting refused to comment on the new guidelines but said they would submit the new information required by the Ministry within a week.

The Union Cabinet had on December 29 last decided to allow private carriers to fly to all international destinations, barring the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, and synergise IA operations with AI.

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