The Hindu Business Line : Open skies for Asean — Six southern cities likely to benefit

THE recent announcement of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, allowing the designated airlines of the 10-member Association of South-East Asian States (Asean) to operate flights to 18 tourist destinations in India could prove to be a big bonanza for at least six cities in South India.

Official sources told Business Line that, apart from the six south Indian tourist cities, which include Tiruchi, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Goa, the designated airlines will also be allowed to operate flights to Amritsar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna, Guwahati and Khajuraho.

Meanwhile, the decision to allow the designated airlines of Asean to operate daily flights to the four metro cities will also provide some benefits for Air India (AI) and Indian Airlines (IA). Officials said that while the designated Asean carriers do not have to wait for air services bilateral talks to conclude before starting more flights, they would have to enter into commercial agreements with either of the two Indian carriers before commencing operations.

Besides, the airlines of India will also be able to operate flights to more Asean nations as part of the Prime Ministerial announcement.

Currently, the airlines of only three of the 10-member-states of the Asean, including Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines, have regular flights to India. Sources indicated that some Asean airlines, including Royal Brunei and Philippines Airlines (PAL), are interested in either starting or increasing flights to India.

The Government has already begun the process for allowing the Asean airlines to operate to India with a note being prepared for the Cabinet approval.

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