Indian airlines to up Gulf services

A flood of new carriers is likely to serve the Gulf when a moratorium preventing Indian airlines from flying abroad is finally lifted early next year.

Air India and Indian Airlines are currently protected from domestic competitors on foreign routes, according to Gaurang Shetty, vice-president of marketing at Jet Airways.

Jet and Kingfisher Airlines are both planning to launch routes to Dubai, Muscat and other Gulf destinations when the policy ends at the beginning of January 2008.

Shetty told a Vancouver aviation conference: "We have plans to operate in the Gulf if the [Indian] government gives us permission.

"We're very keen to go to markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as there are a couple of million migrant workers from India in the Middle East right now."

Sudhan Thomas, regional director at Kingfisher said the airline will allocate 10 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft for Gulf routes as early as January, making Dubai a priority.

India has the fastest-growing number of passengers in the world. The number taking domestic flights jumped nearly 50% last year, and that total is projected to increase more than fivefold by 2020, to 200 million a year.

Currently, competition is so cutthroat that carriers lose between $10 to $15 a passenger per flight.

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