Aviation ministry rules out more flights from Qatar

New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation has disagreed with a proposal of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to explore raising the cap on the number of weekly flights from Qatar in exchange for discounts on additional supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from there.
A senior aviation ministry official said, “Indian carriers are currently utilising a fourth of the capacity available between India and Qatar. Given that, we would not want to enhance bilateral traffic rights between the countries at this point of time.”
Qatar has nearly exhausted the entitled capacity, while Indian carriers are utilising only around 6,000 seats a week.
Sources said the government was keen on enhancing air traffic bilateral rights, as Qatar has promised investments of up to $3 billion a year in India.
The Qatar government has been asking for an expansion of weekly capacity to 72,600 seats, against the available 24,800, to create a hub for West-bound international traffic out of India.
Read News In Full 12/12/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard