MCA declines increased access to domestic market to Gulf carriers
24 Oct 2011
Mumbai: Under fire for liberally gifting bilateral air traffic rights to foreign carriers, the ministry of civil aviation (MCA) has predictably enough turned down requests from Gulf States to increase frequencies and provide access to more airports in India. The ministry of civil aviation's policies in this regard in the recent past, invited adverse comments from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAGI) office recently.
India conducted negotiations with 35 countries at the International Civil Aviation Negotiation Conference, recently concluded in Mumbai on Saturday, and signed air services agreements with 22 countries.
Several of these agreements relate to technical or air fare issues or revision to existing pacts.
On Saturday, ministry officials met delegates from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and UAE. They confirmed they had turned down requests from these states for increased access to additional Indian airports.
Meanwhile, the government has agreed to increase seat entitlements to Singapore and Austria. Officials said this will mean an addition of a few hundred seats to Singapore.
Singapore carriers have been allowed access to Hyderabad, however, requests for access to additional cities was turned down, officials said.
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