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Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, flanked by Mr K .Ramakrishna, Airport Director, and Capt S.N. Reddy, Aviation Adviser to the Andhra Pradesh Government, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. — A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , Sept. 2

RULING out the possibility of a blanket `open sky' policy, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said the issue was basically related to commercial interests of a country.

Addressing the stakeholders of the aviation industry and a news conference later, the Minister said certain bilateral issues were involved with regard to having an open sky policy. "But we do permit on case-to-case basis and have tie-ups," he said, referring to the recent pacts with some private carriers. "None would sacrifice their commercial interests. But, then, you have to have world-class infrastructure and an international carrier. We can develop Mumbai and New Delhi in the North and Hyderabad and Chennai in the South as major hubs," he said.

He said the Government appointed Naresh Chandra Committee to prepare a roadmap for the civil aviation industry would be ready with its report by October-end. "It will look into issues like creating modern airports, hubs, tax structure and competition."

Referring to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu's, demand for an open sky policy, the Minister said that Mr Naidu might be correct from his State's perspective but there were several other issues involved.

On the expansion of the Rajiv Gandhi Airport, Mr Rudy said it would have 10,600 ft-long runway by January-February, which allows big aircraft to fly into the city. At present the airport, has 9,080-ft long runway with a usable component of 7,760 ft.

With regard to the upcoming international airport at Shamsabad through public-private partnership, he said issues related to defence and air traffic were being sorted out. "A memorandum of understanding will be signed once these issues are sorted out. We will consider any proposal seeking concessions from the private consortium in this regard," Mr Rudy said.

Asking employees of various arms of the ministry to change their mindset, Mr Rudy said it was necessary to gear up the national carrier for competition. A passenger should come first in our scheme of things because he is the reason for the whole industry. "The whole system is based on him. But do we recognise him?" he wondered.

He (the passenger, exporter) is instrumental in getting us a huge kitty of foreign reserves and export revenues. Communicate with him and treat him well, the Minister said, giving a piece of advice to the staff.

Stating that they cannot hinge on protectionism any longer, Mr Rudi said the investments made into the industry were meant to support other developmental activities. Making a dig at the unions and their dictates, he said people had started asking questions. "There is no denying that public sector undertakings played a vital role, but there's a question mark. They (those in the organised sector) have got everything for themselves. The country has to grow. But it should grow uniformly," he pointed out.

Referring to the Golden Quadrilateral project, he said the Government had initiated several measures to take on competition and reduce cost. "In the WTO era, civil aviation industry too is part of such conversation," he said.

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No blanket open sky policy, says Rudy

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