Making more noise does not make you right on flying rights: IndiGo CEO
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The government has a fair and balanced approach on international flying rights Pieter Elbers , CEO of IndiGo said on Monday.Elbers' comments comes a day after Emirates President Tim Clark said that restricting access for foreign airlines by restricting flying rights was akin to 'shooting yourself in the foot.' Elbers also took a jibe at Clark saying that making "more noise" doesn't make one more right.'First of all, it's called a bilateral agreement, right? That means two sides have to agree on something. If one side makes more and more noise, it doesn't mean you're more and more right,' Elbers said in reply to a question of ET during a press conference at the annual general meeting at International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) on Monday. 'It's not that if one side says, 'now we do it' — that's not how it works,' he added.Clark of Emirates has been vocal about India's policy as Dubai- it's home state has been unable calling it protectionism as India has freezed any extension of flying rights to middle-east countries in order to encourage its carriers to fly wide body aircraft and provide direct connectivity to North America and Europe.Clark said that it has hurt interest of both Emirates and India as the airline hasn't been able to grow since 2015. Currently both Indian and carriers of Dubau can fly 60,000 seats per week and has exhausted their quota.Elbers said that there have historically been several international markets where foreign airlines fully utilised their entitlements to fly into India, while Indian carriers did not. 'There were a massive number of flights into India and no operations by Indian operators. So, for a government to say, 'first let's use the existing pool of traffic rights, and then look at new ones,' I think that's a completely fair and balanced approach,' he said.IATA Director General Willie Walsh, meanwhile, said on Monday that this challenge on flying rights is not unique to India. He acknowledged the country's rapid growth in domestic aviation and noted that India's fleet of wide-body aircraft -- previously less than 50 -- is finally expanding.'As we see the expansion of Indian carriers into new markets, there will have to be a corresponding change to the approach for access,' Walsh said.
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