Regional carriers likely to get nod to fly additional metro route

NEW DELHI: The civil aviation ministry is likely to allow regional airlines to operate flights on high density and high revenue routes to help them offset their losses incurred on low revenue routes, a move that will benefit carriers such as Air Costa and Air Pegasus.

"We require a lot of regional carriers to provide connectivity in areas which are underserved. Allowing regional carriers to offset losses made on regional routes and earn a little more by operating flights on high-density routes will ensure that the regional airline model is viable. The model is being actively discussed and we will soon take a decision," said a senior civil aviation ministry official, who did not want to be identified. The official added that the proposal has come from the regional carriers.

Under the current norms, regional carriers are not allowed to connect more than two metro destinations while they can connect any number of regional destinations or non-trunk routes. A regional airline can connect one metro destination in the state it’s operating in and the other metro destination could be in a nearby state.

"We are looking at increasing the number to either three or four," the official said, adding, "There is no harm in providing rights to a regional carrier which is connecting Delhi-Bhatinda to connect Delhi-Mumbai too. This will add to its bottom line. But any incentive we provide will be based on the strict condition that the regional connectivity is not compromised."

The civil aviation ministry, headed by Ashok Gajapathi Raju, is discussing ways to improve regional connectivity in the country. The government had prepared a draft policy for promoting regional and remote-area air connectivity in August but it did not make headway because of opposition from scheduled airlines.

The draft policy had envisioned inducting more aircraft to serve smaller cities and towns by bringing in planes used by non-scheduled operators, which do not operate as per a schedule and are available for charter. The draft policy had said that such operators could publish schedules and pick up passengers regularly by taking a scheduled commuter permit. Scheduled commuter airlines were required to operate at least four flights a week on any one or more regional routes, according to the draft guidelines.

This permit will allow them to fly scheduled flights across the country but bar them from having a hub or base in any of the six metro cities.