Govt promised open skies and then hasn’t opened a single window

Consider these:

• A month ago, in a decision cheered by the industry, the Government cleared private domestic airlines to fly to South Asian destinations. Before that, these carriers were allowed to fly to Colombo as agreed in a joint statement between India and Sri Lanka. Until today, a formal notification to implement this decision has not been issued.

n In the case of Colombo, both Jet Airways and Air Sahara have even filed their schedules but without a Government notification, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation cannot give its nod.

• In December again, the Naresh Chandra panel submitted its report on civil aviation reforms. It was to pave the way for a comprehensive civil aviation policy. Nothing of this sort happened. Apart from abolishing the Inland Air Travel Tax (which brought down fares) and reducing central excise on air turbine fuel, the bulk of the report is yet to be translated into policy.

• For all the talk on greenfield airports, the construction on Bangalore International Airport started today, over two years behind schedule. The concession agreement itself was hanging fire for over a year.

• The proposed Shamshabad airport at Hyderabad is still in queue.

• Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy unveiled a new charter policy a few weeks ago. It was announced that chartered aircraft can now fly to any airport in the country but a notification has still to arrive from the Government.

Travel and tour agencies are back to knocking the doors of those very officials who had inked the document. But again, no answer.

Don’t be impatient, says Rudy. ‘‘It has been just two weeks and the notification will be there soon,’’ he said. ‘‘On the other issues, the Government will come out with a comprehensive framework of rules and regulations. This will address all areas. We do not want to introduce reforms in a piecemeal manner,’’ he told The Indian Express.

But clearly, reforms in this sector have been in reverse gear. An absence of clear-cut decisions has meant that Indian carriers have steadily lost business to foreign airlines.

There is no decision on privatising Air India and Indian Airlines while the two carriers continue to see a dip in their profile. They do not have the aircraft to compete with foreign airlines and private domestic carriers do not have the sanction.

According to official estimates, foreign carriers today bag 70 per cent of the passenger traffic to and from India. A substantial amount of foreign exchange, sources say, is simply lost as domestic airline operators wait helplessly in the wings.

This has had a cascading effect as no Indian airport has been developed into a hub for international travel. ‘‘Obviously, if bulk of passenger traffic is carried away by foreign airlines, their connecting hubs would be in their country of origin. So Dubai, Singapore, Colombo and Hong Kong have grown into major hubs in Asia while Delhi and Mumbai have been marginalised,’’ says a senior civil aviation official.

But Rudy is optimistic. ‘‘We have already abolished IATT bringing down air fares in the domestic sector. And the reforms we are planning now will take at least six months before one can feel their impact.’’ In six months, of course, there will be a new government.