India is considering lifting a ban on Airbus SAS A380s from flying into the country, a move that may help Emirates and Deutsche Lufthansa to start services with the double-decker plane to the Asian nation.
“We’ve been looking at it and we’ve talked to the airlines and asked for comments from ground-handling and immigration,” Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said in New Delhi today. “We are waiting for their comments.”
The government banned commercial services with the world’s biggest passenger aircraft on concerns that travelers will desert state-run Air India Ltd. and other local airlines struggling with the region’s most-expensive fuel tariffs and a price war. Current rules prevent overseas airlines from flying aircraft bigger than the Boeing 747 into the country.
Emirates, the biggest customer for the A380, and Deutsche Lufthansa have both said they would like to fly the superjumbos into the country. Airbus yesterday said it canceled orders for five A380s from Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., the only Indian carrier to order the superjumbo, after the operator grounded its fleet more than a year ago.
Read News In Full 14/01/14 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg
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