NEW DELHI: Dubai — the biggest destination for both transit and point-to-point Indian travellers — has sought flying rights for an additional 50,000 weekly seats to and from India. It has also sought permission for its airlines to fly direct to additional points of call — Amritsar, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Kannur, Goa, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Pune — that are very lucrative revenue generators for this sector. Since 2014, India-Dubai bilaterals stand at 65,200 seats per week to be utilised by designated carriers of either sides.
The Modi administration has not been liberal in increasing the existing flying rights of foreign countries that can be utilised by their carriers as well as by Indian ones on a reciprocal basis, in a bid to increase Indian carriers’ share in the country’s booming international travel. Several countries, including UAE (while Dubai part of UAE, it is considered separately for flying rights) have for the past few years been seeking enhanced bilaterals with India.
