The Hindu : Opening up the skies

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Opening up the skies

WHETHER IT WAS planned or spontaneous, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's limited open skies offer to the designated airlines of ASEAN countries has set the ball rolling. The Civil Aviation Minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, has announced a limited open skies policy for all airlines for the oncoming tourist season from December to February. As an outcome of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to New Delhi, India has offered Sri Lanka the facility of additional daily services by its designated airlines between Colombo and six Indian metros. The Civil Aviation Ministry has to rework its policy with regard to the open skies regime and also the future of bilateral air services agreements. It is time to give up the ad hoc approach and settle for a clear-cut policy that will allow all airlines to plan for the future. Even without an open skies regime, many foreign airlines have taken up the unutilised quota of the national carriers — Air India and Indian Airlines — available under the bilateral aviation agreements. For the tourism sector and the passengers, there cannot be a better prospect than an open skies policy. It will provide a wide choice to the consumer and push fares southward. There will be new opportunities for India's private scheduled airlines, Jet Airways and Sahara. For a start, they will be allowed to extend their operations to Sri Lanka.

What Mr. Vajpayee offered the Southeast Asian leaders at the Bali summit may be a precursor to an open skies regime that may be inevitable in the years ahead. It makes sense to try it out in the East and South Asian environments before the country readies itself for a full onslaught by international airlines. The national carriers, which are supposed to have a 50-50 share in these agreements, have progressively lowered their utilised quota to something like 30 per cent. They have let rival airlines from Singapore and Malaysia, for instance, to take up the unutilised quota. Air India has not shown enough interest in the East and Indian Airlines can hardly be expected to compete with Singapore Airlines or Malaysian Airlines. For Air India, West Asia, Britain and the United States have been the areas of focus while Indian Airlines, despite its inherent limitations, has built up a market in West, South, and Southeast Asia. Although Indian Airlines aircraft are not really equipped to cater to international routes, these regional operations are profitable.

The Government needs to work out a sound plan of survival for the national carriers so that they can stand up to the competition. An open skies regime will enable foreign airlines to carry passengers from India to third country destinations. If the decision not to disinvest in Air India and Indian Airlines is final, equipping them to stand up to tough international competition becomes an imperative. The first step must be to push through the aircraft acquisition plans for both the airlines and then let them function independently. Among other things, they must be empowered to take the right commercial decisions. They must not be seen as adjuncts of the Aviation Ministry and their administration must be rid of political interference. Air India and Indian Airlines must not be placed at a disadvantage on account of their public sector status and their dependence on the Government for decision-making. Above all, both the management and staff of the two national carriers must be encouraged and trusted to do a good, professional job. Their morale needs to be improved in a systematic way.

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