Air travelers can now board a flight on the world's largest commercial airliner- Airbus A-380- from India. Aviation minister Ajit Singh on Monday allowed foreign airlines to fly this aircraft to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, subject to their meeting the existing bilateral agreements India has with their parent countries.
The nod for the super Jumbo has come after a wait of almost four years. Delhi's IGI airport got a code-F runway (wide enough to handle this large plane) and a terminal that could do twin level boarding of passengers on this double storey plane in 2010. Dubai's Emirates in fact wanted to fly the plane to Delhi the day T3 was inaugurated but fearing that it might take attention away from the new terminal, the plane was allowed here a week after the opening for a one-off flight.
Apart from Emirates, German carrier Lufthansa was also keen to fly the plane to Delhi. Singapore Airlines was the other airline that wanted to operate it on India routes.
However, fearing that Indian carriers might lose traffic to the wow factor of the A-380, the government did not allow this plane to fly here. The routes it will be operated on are India-Dubai, Frankfurt and Singapore by the airlines of those countries. Incidentally, these routes are very important for Indian carriers.
Among Indian carriers, only grounded-since-October, 2012, Kingfisherhad ordered five A-380s. But now Airbus has taken its orders off the books. In fact, the A-380 had first flown to Delhi and Mumbai on Kingfisher's second anniversary in May, 2007. After that, the aircraft has come to India possibly only twice -- for Hyderabad air show and for Delhi's T3 inauguration.
But now with Mumbai also getting an A-380-compliant terminal, the government has decided to allow this plane to the country. The aviation ministry has said that foreign airlines will need to be within their overall permitted seat quota to India.
"India has delayed the permission of the A-380 by way too long. Now foreign airlines will ask for more bilateral or flying rights to actually operate the plane to India. It does not make commercial sense to drop frequency and have just one A-380 flight between Delhi and Dubai or Singapore. Airlines had asked for nod to fly this plane to India five years back when they had got enhanced flying rights. But now the same are being used to the hilt at least by Emirates. In an election year, it remains to be seen if the government can afford to dole out more flying rights to foreign airlines," said an airline official.
The nod for the super Jumbo has come after a wait of almost four years. Delhi's IGI airport got a code-F runway (wide enough to handle this large plane) and a terminal that could do twin level boarding of passengers on this double storey plane in 2010. Dubai's Emirates in fact wanted to fly the plane to Delhi the day T3 was inaugurated but fearing that it might take attention away from the new terminal, the plane was allowed here a week after the opening for a one-off flight.
Apart from Emirates, German carrier Lufthansa was also keen to fly the plane to Delhi. Singapore Airlines was the other airline that wanted to operate it on India routes.
However, fearing that Indian carriers might lose traffic to the wow factor of the A-380, the government did not allow this plane to fly here. The routes it will be operated on are India-Dubai, Frankfurt and Singapore by the airlines of those countries. Incidentally, these routes are very important for Indian carriers.
Among Indian carriers, only grounded-since-October, 2012, Kingfisherhad ordered five A-380s. But now Airbus has taken its orders off the books. In fact, the A-380 had first flown to Delhi and Mumbai on Kingfisher's second anniversary in May, 2007. After that, the aircraft has come to India possibly only twice -- for Hyderabad air show and for Delhi's T3 inauguration.
But now with Mumbai also getting an A-380-compliant terminal, the government has decided to allow this plane to the country. The aviation ministry has said that foreign airlines will need to be within their overall permitted seat quota to India.
"India has delayed the permission of the A-380 by way too long. Now foreign airlines will ask for more bilateral or flying rights to actually operate the plane to India. It does not make commercial sense to drop frequency and have just one A-380 flight between Delhi and Dubai or Singapore. Airlines had asked for nod to fly this plane to India five years back when they had got enhanced flying rights. But now the same are being used to the hilt at least by Emirates. In an election year, it remains to be seen if the government can afford to dole out more flying rights to foreign airlines," said an airline official.
Source: Times Of India
