Northeast India-Dubai direct airlines rejected by India

NEW DELHI | DECEMBER 25, 2017

India has rejected Dubai's request for rights that would have allowed carriers based in the Emirate to fly directly to under-served airports in the country, such as those in the North East.

"We have decided against allowing any such access to Dubai. The request has been rejected," said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be named.

Dubai is trying to negotiate increase in the flying-rights entitlements to India, and flights to Guwahati or Dibrugarh would have been over and above the existing bilateral agreements had New Delhi agreed to the request. Dubai had written to the Indian government for direct access to northeastern airports.

Dubai-based Flydubai had sought to expand its footprint in India. "You want us to go to Bhubaneshwar, Tirupati, Coimbatore… wherever you want us to invest in driving economic growth, employment or be part of the (Incredible India campaign)… we will be happy to do that," Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice-President, Commercial Operations, Indian Sub-Continent/Gulf Cooperation Council and Africa at Flydubai, had said earlier.

Flydubai and Emirates are two Dubai-based carriers operating in India.

While India has rejected the specific request on direct flights to the Northeast, there is no decision yet on increasing Dubai's bilateral flying rights. Carriers from India and Dubai have exhausted their bilateral quota of 65,000 seats each and Dubai has been trying to convince India to agree to an increase.

Dubai has also offered Indian carriers slots at its airport — a precondition by Indian authorities for agreeing on any increase —something the Emirate earlier rejected. Aviation ministry officials say that not all Indian carries favour an increase in bilateral entitlements with Dubai.

"Air India has opposed any increase in entitlements with Dubai. It seems Jet Airways and IndiGo are also not very keen," the official said. Dubai has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the bilateral deal with India, with the Emirate's entitlements increasing from 10,400 seats to 54,200 between 2005 and 2010. In February 2014, both sides increased the entitlement by another 11,000 seats each a week under a new agreement.

The current government, after coming to power in 2014, decided to not get into any new bilateral entitlements until Indian carriers used up 80% of their existing quotas.