Govt for more open skies, Shahnawaz

The government is fast moving towards an ‘open sky policy’ where every airline wanting to fly into India would be allowed to do so. Making the announcement on Friday, civil aviation minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said that ‘revolutionary changes’ could be expected in the aviation sector. The minister said that Air India will start its long-awaited direct flights to Frankfurt and Chicago in the next two months. Air India may also start a daily service to London, he added.

‘‘We are going to be liberal with bilaterals and will look at every aspect with an open and broad mind to overcome the shortfall of 5,000 seats a week,’’ Hussain said, adding that the interests of national carriers would be kept in mind. The new Civil Aviation policy would also be taken up after the Parliament session ended today, he said.

The minister was speaking at the National Convention on Aviation and Tourism, organised by ASSOCHAM.