UAE carriers on Tuesday called on Indian authorities to open up more capacity to them and warned their growth in the country was being held back.
Adel Ali, the group chief executive of Air Arabia, said that the Sharjah-based low-cost carrier had experienced “stagnation” in India, having exhausted its allocation of seats.
“I believe the easy answer is open it up and it’s good for everyone,” he said, speaking at the Capa India Aviation Summit in Mumbai. “All our flights are full and for four years we have had zero growth [in India]. It’s bad for the travelling public, bad for the airline, and I suspect bad for the airports as well as the industry a whole.”
Air Arabia flies to 13 cities in India.
“We are just hoping that as things go on the authorities be kind to us and give us a few more seats,” Mr Ali said.
The budget airline flydubai’s expansion ambitions for India are also hampered because of such restrictions.
“If we do get a chance for more capacity, we are always ready to have it,” said Pran S Dasan, the country head, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, for flydubai. The airline is launching flights to Chennai in April and adding another service to Kochi, which he said “closes the recent increase in the bilateral [rights]”, in a market which has enormous potential.
“The reality of it is that India should open up and it’s not only to Emirates, it’s to everyone,” said Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, the vice president, India and Nepal, for Emirates Airline.
03/02/15 Rebecca Bundhun/The National
Adel Ali, the group chief executive of Air Arabia, said that the Sharjah-based low-cost carrier had experienced “stagnation” in India, having exhausted its allocation of seats.
“I believe the easy answer is open it up and it’s good for everyone,” he said, speaking at the Capa India Aviation Summit in Mumbai. “All our flights are full and for four years we have had zero growth [in India]. It’s bad for the travelling public, bad for the airline, and I suspect bad for the airports as well as the industry a whole.”
Air Arabia flies to 13 cities in India.
“We are just hoping that as things go on the authorities be kind to us and give us a few more seats,” Mr Ali said.
The budget airline flydubai’s expansion ambitions for India are also hampered because of such restrictions.
“If we do get a chance for more capacity, we are always ready to have it,” said Pran S Dasan, the country head, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, for flydubai. The airline is launching flights to Chennai in April and adding another service to Kochi, which he said “closes the recent increase in the bilateral [rights]”, in a market which has enormous potential.
“The reality of it is that India should open up and it’s not only to Emirates, it’s to everyone,” said Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, the vice president, India and Nepal, for Emirates Airline.
03/02/15 Rebecca Bundhun/The National
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