NEW DELHI: As Indian carriers prepare to increase their share in international airtravel in and out of the country, India's largest airline IndiGo has reacted sharply to Emirates ' long-standing demand for more flying rights for Dubai .
"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. It's not that if one side says, 'now we do it' - that's not how it works," IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said at the IATA AGM on Monday, without naming Emirates.
On Sunday, Emirates Airlines president Tim Clark said: "We've been stuck with 65,000 seats in each direction (Dubai-India and vice-versa) for just over 11 years now. Fifteen years ago, the population to Dubai was about 25 lakh. This is over 80 lakh. Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities and 40% of the ethnic mix is of Indian origin."
"If you look at the way the Indian community has moved to and from Dubai over the last 10 or 11 years, you can see the scale of what is not happening by not giving seats to Emirates or wherever else it may be. Indian govt has a policy at the moment of restricting capacity of foreign carriers into India, and they have their reasons for that," he said.
Elbers also said Monday, "There were a massive number of flights into India and no operations by Indian operators. So, for a govt 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."
"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. It's not that if one side says, 'now we do it' - that's not how it works," IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said at the IATA AGM on Monday, without naming Emirates.
On Sunday, Emirates Airlines president Tim Clark said: "We've been stuck with 65,000 seats in each direction (Dubai-India and vice-versa) for just over 11 years now. Fifteen years ago, the population to Dubai was about 25 lakh. This is over 80 lakh. Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities and 40% of the ethnic mix is of Indian origin."
"If you look at the way the Indian community has moved to and from Dubai over the last 10 or 11 years, you can see the scale of what is not happening by not giving seats to Emirates or wherever else it may be. Indian govt has a policy at the moment of restricting capacity of foreign carriers into India, and they have their reasons for that," he said.
Elbers also said Monday, "There were a massive number of flights into India and no operations by Indian operators. So, for a govt 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."
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