Bilateral Rights May Increase If TDP Gets Civil Aviation Ministry

In India, elections are conducted every five years. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-backed NDA government has acquired the majority with their MPs winning in 291 constituencies. Narendra Modi will continue to be the Prime Minister of India.

This change in ministers may change a lot of situations in the Indian civil aviation market. If TDP gets Civil Aviation under its portfolio, the wishes of airlines like Emirates and Kuwait Airways may come true.

Bilateral Rights May Increase

As stated earlier, the BJP-led NDA government has won these elections. NDA is an alliance of more than 30 parties. One of the major alliance partners is the Andhra Pradesh-based Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Historically, TDP has been in favor of providing foreign carriers with more bilateral rights. For example, from 2014 to 2018, Ashok Gajapathi Raju of TDP was the Civil Aviation Minister. He was one of the first advocates for increasing bilateral rights for foreign carriers.

In the past 5-6 years, the government has maintained a firm stance of not providing foreign carriers with additional bilateral rights. Various airlines like Emirates and Turkish Airlines want to operate more flights to India but are unable to do so because of a restricted bilateral agreement.

In March 2020, Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia was appointed the Civil Aviation Minister. In this Lok Sabha election, he won from the Guna constituency with a huge margin.

Indian Airlines’ Stance on Foreign Rights

While airlines like IndiGo and Akasa Air want the government to review the bilateral air service agreements with major countries, Air India is against the grant of any more flying rights. Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube said that the holding capacity by blocking bilateral rights may lead to higher fares.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has also favored the review of bilateral rights to ensure enhanced connectivity and trade.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson however opposes this idea. According to him, the Gulf carriers can obstruct the growth of Indian carriers in markets like Europe and North America. He said that we are investing in the airline and expect an economic value in return. If the government allows foreign carriers to operate more flights and we can’t fill our planes, we will not take any more aircraft, he said.

The bilateral air service agreement between India and UAE was last updated in 2014. Under this agreement, airlines from both sides can operate 65,200 weekly seats in one way. Since 2015, Emirates has been requesting for more capacity. Indian carriers are increasing their fleet and network rapidly. Air India and IndiGo are ready to take a long leap in the international market.

Conclusion

Tomorrow, PM Narendra Modi will take oath. If anyone from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is granted the aviation portfolio, there are higher chances that airlines like Emirates, SIA, and Kuwait Airways will receive the additional traffic rights to operate more flights to India. All eyes are on tomorrow’s political updates. I will update you accordingly. Stay tuned!

What is your stance on granting bilateral rights to foreign carriers? Discuss in the comment section.