Singapore Airlines chief seeks open skies policy

When asked about the jinxed joint venture with the Tatas to launch a domestic airliner in India, Hwee said the fate of that project shows that India needs more liberalisation. ‘‘Our joint venture with the Tatas was not well received… now we are waiting for more clear cut policies,’’ says the soft-spoken chairman. ‘‘Though it is very premature, we are always looking for investment opportunities (in India),’’ says Harvard-educated Hwee. ‘‘There is a huge demand potential in India and we are waiting for the government to open up the aviation industry,’’ he adds.

‘‘Besides we would also like to start more flights from India to Singapore but it all depends on the local government,’’ Hwee added.

On the global aviation industry, Hwee said after last year’s SARS havoc, the industry has now recovered and the bird flue scare is still ‘manageable’. Just recently, Singapore Airline has started one of world’s longest flight from Singapore to Los Angeles. It plans to add another flight from Singapore to New York by middle of this year.

Hwee, however, is very bullish about India’s infotech sector. ‘‘India’s infotech sector has made tremendrous progress in the last four years. I have made investments as all the policies of the government in this sector is correct and I have faith in the promoters (of this company),’’ Hwee adds.