To compete with the global carriers, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel seeks Indian carriers to fly several more international routes that are not currently serviced by Indian airlines. The government will also take the final decision on allowing higher foreign direct investment (FDI) in many activities in the aviation sector.
Patel said Air India was set to open a major hub in Munich. AI had recently joined the Star Alliance group..
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 in Davos, Patel, who is part of the Indian ministerial delegation, said there are a vast number of routes where Indian carriers are not operating, but which are being operated in by foreign airlines flying to and from India.
"We are only talking of a few routes now where the Indian carriers are operating. What about the vast number of routes in and out of India where only the international carriers are operating? The basic idea of opening up is that you cannot expect one provider to service all of these routes. Most countries in Europe are not serviced by Indian carriers, whereas their carriers are flying in and out of India," Patel explained.
On freeing up FDI in aviation activities further, Patel said while there was 100% FDI in greenfield airports, his ministry and the commerce ministry were moving quickly to free up FDI in other allied activities.
On the Air-India hub in Munich, Patel said by virtue of joining the Star Alliance, the airline would have a much more integrated network in Europe. He said while AI had been invited to join the Alliance and the decision had been taken, to accomplish this will take about a year."The infrastructure, the systems, the integration will take about a year. And by then the new fleet would also start coming into place," the minister said. Indian carriers have placed orders with overseas suppliers worth $25 billion over the past two years. It is now looking at infrastructure upgrades as well.
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