New Delhi: Close on the heels of Abu Dhabi being granted additional weekly seats to India, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Gulf Airways will plead their case for more seat entitlements. Officials from these airlines are scheduled to meet finance minister P Chidambaram and civil aviation minister Ajit Singh early next week; Emirates confirmed that either president Tim Clarke or other senior officials would be present at the meeting.The Dubai-based carrier is looking for an additional 20,000 seats per week as it fears it could lose market share due to the additional seats granted to Abu Dhabi. The airline has told Indian diplomats in Dubai that there needs to be a level playing field.
In April, the civil aviation ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi to increase bilateral seat entitlements by 36,700 seats per week from the existing 13,300. Etihad will be the sole carrier from Abu Dhabi to make use of the rights that would enable it to rival Emirates, which has nearly exhausted its seat entitlements of 54,200 seats per week. India and Abu Dhabi have signed the MoU, but it will need to be approved by the Union Cabinet.
11/07/13 Debabrata Das/Huma Siddiqui /Indian Express
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