Airfares on international routes are likely to fall with the civil aviation ministry on Monday announcing the removal of restrictions for airlines to operate Airbus A380 flights to and from India. The fuel-efficient A380 is a large wide-body, twin-deck aircraft that uses four engines and can carry over 600 passengers on long haul routes, improving the cost economics for airlines.
Initially three airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, are expected to be interested in operating A380s out of India, though only the airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad currently have the infrastructure designed to handle such a large aircraft. ?The Union minister for civil aviation, Ajit Singh, has decided to remove restrictions on flights of Airbus A380 to India. Now, flights of A380 to India will be allowed to airports which are equipped to handle them. The decision has been taken after due consultations with the DGCA, Air India and Airports Authority of India,? a government statement said.
?The operation of A380s will help airports generate more revenue, give more comfortable travel to passengers, liberalise the civil aviation milieu in India and boost the image of Indian civil aviation in the international market,? it added.
However, the operations of A380 aircraft will be subject to overall traffic entitlements within the bilateral Air Service Agreements (ASAs) with different countries, the ministry said. ?Wherever the entitlements are not expressed in terms of seats per week, the same should be rationalised and converted into seats per week before allowing A-380 operations. If any ASA specifically prohibits operation of A-380 to India, the same will also be required to be amended before A380 operations from that country are allowed,? the government statement said.
David Lau, general manager, India, for Singapore Airlines, said, ?The clearance to deploy A380s on Indian routes is favourable news. Singapore Airlines will evaluate the commercial viability of this development based on available traffic rights and resources.?
Amber Dubey, partner and head-aerospace and defence at KPMG said this decision will also allow India to get more market access in UAE, Germany and Singapore for its goods and services. ?A great move that will show benefits in the coming summer. This is in line with the spate of pro-business reforms announced by the civil aviation ministry. A380s will help bring down fares and improve the cost competitiveness of the Indian tourism sector, while improving efficiency and capacity utilisation at airports,? Dubey said.
Starting with Singapore Airlines in 2007, over 120 A380s have been delivered to 10 global airlines. Over 50 million passengers have enjoyed the A380 flying experience and the fleet has accumulated some 150,000 flights and over 1.2 million flight hours. The A380 has visited nearly 160 airports in all continents of the world, with London’s Heathrow accounting for the highest A380 traffic.
