Skift India Daily: Air India's Latest Flex Will Make It Harder for Foreign Airlines to Gain Access

A debate over market access was rekindled at an aviation event in India as foreign carriers seeking additional capacity to serve more routes in India feared the Tata Group-owned Air India's rebirth and record order of 470 jets might capture most of the market. Dubai's Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Kuwaiti carrier Jazeera Airways have all called for sharp increases in air traffic rights to and from India to meet demand. Vietnam and Indonesia also want more flights, an Indian official said. However, speaking to Reuters India's civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the country has no plans to increase air traffic rights for the United Arab Emirates. He instead urged domestic carriers to fly long haul and help establish new hubs. "We are going to see an explosion of air traffic in India in the years to come," he said, adding he wanted domestic carriers to focus on international expansion. "We are not getting enough share from this market," Turkish Airlines Chief Executive Bilal Eksi said. Dubai has requested an extra 50,000 seats a week on India routes while Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways said the current weekly allowance of 12,000 was inadequate and asked for the cap to be raised to 28,000 seats.  

India may require 31,000 pilots and some 26,000 mechanics over the next 20 years amid the growing order book of the aircraft original equipment manufacturers, according to U.S. aircraft maker Boeing. The focus should be on making infrastructure robust, both hard infrastructure which includes airports as well as critical infrastructure, which includes pilots, among others, said Boeing India President Salil Gupte. Tata Group-owned Air India had