Bangalore, Jan 28 – India has decided to remove restrictions on Airbus A-380 flights to India, Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh announced.
“Now, flights of A-380 to India will be allowed to airports which are equipped to handle them,” he said.
At present only Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have the required infrastructure for operations of A-380. The decision has been taken after due consultations with the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India and Airports Authority of India.
The operations of A-380 aircraft would be subject to overall traffic entitlements within the bilateral air service agreements (ASA) with different countries, he said in a statement.
It has also been decided that 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 to India from these countries.
“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 rationalisation of traffic rights from services per week to seats per week shall be done through mutual negotiations through a Memorandum of Understanding,” the statement said.
Before operations of A-380 are allowed, all the airports shall have to get DGCA certification and make adequate preparation in terms of various services required, he said.
The operation of A380s will help airports to generate more revenue, give more comfortable and luxurious travel to passengers, liberalise the Civil Aviation milieu in India and boost the image of Indian civil aviation in the international market.
As per available information, Singapore Airline, Emirates and Lufthansa are interested in operating A-380 aircrafts in India on various international routes.
– Bernama
