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Airline can fly to 40 destinations in country if Delhi opens up aviation sector, says Ghaith Al Ghaith
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The aviation market in India has huge potential and needs to increase flights between India and the UAE to meet the growing demand of UAE residents and Indian tourists.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive of flydubai, said Emirates airline is looking to take advantage of every opportunity that arises by launching new flights to India, which is set to become the world’s most populous country this year, calling it a tourism industry hub. Baoku, which is also calling for more flights between Dubai, the UAE and India due to rapidly growing demand.
He added that India could offer huge potential if the government agrees to adopt an open skies policy. “I think somewhere, somehow business to India has been damaged by not having that kind of aggression (which is required). As more and more airlines come on board and buy new planes, hopefully this will Policy makers will be encouraged to open up the aviation industry,” he said.
For example, to highlight the potential, if Delhi opens up the aviation industry, flydubai alone can fly to 40 destinations in India, he said.
The UAE has reportedly asked New Delhi to increase the maximum number of seats between the two countries by 50,000 per week from about 65,000. Some reports say that the United Arab Emirates is seeking to increase the number of seats offered to India from 65,000 to 115,000 per week.
Considering the strong growth of the Indian economy and aviation industry, Indian airlines have placed a huge order of 470 aircraft worth US$80 billion from Airbus and Boeing to update their fleets and meet the growing demand for domestic and international travel.
In April, Air India announced an increase in flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Dubai as part of the Air India and Air India Express network adjustment process to accommodate rising demand.
Tata-owned Air India has boosted frequency, increasing daily flights between Delhi and Dubai (in both directions) by 10 times, including a new flight starting April 29, 2023. Air India now operates 6x more daily flights (both directions) between Mumbai and Dubai. For most of the week, that means eight daily flights to Dubai from the two Indian cities.
Due to the shortage of flights between the UAE and India, air ticket prices have risen sharply during the tourist season, affecting the 3.5 million non-resident Indians who work and live in the UAE.
Ghaith Al Ghaith said air ticket prices have peaked and are likely to remain at current levels until the summer, mainly due to supply and demand factors as inbound and outbound travel increases exponentially.
Sir Tim Clark, chief executive of Emirates Airline, had also earlier made a request to the Indian government that the available seats between the two countries should also be increased.
TP Sudheesh, managing director of Deira Travels, also called on the Indian authorities to increase the frequency of flights as this would also help some blue-collar workers.
“The Indian government should give permission to foreign or Indian airlines to operate additional flights. Many foreign airlines are ready to operate on Indian routes, so now is the time for the Indian government to respond aggressively to meet the demand,” he said.
He added that some airlines have recently deployed smaller aircraft and this has had a negative impact on passengers in the form of higher fares, especially for flights to the southern Indian state of Kerala.
– waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com
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