Today, private carriers will head for Colombo, opening new skies

It’s learnt that senior members of the Sri Lankan government will receive the two flights — on board will be the CEOs of both airlines — and they are planning a welcome band for the first passengers tomorrow. Jet Airways has even organised a Bollywood evening on Wednesday to add colour to the event.

From promotional fares to special packages, both airlines have already made a series of announcements for the first flights from Chennai. To start with, the two airlines will operate seven flights a week between Chennai and Colombo.

Sahara and Jet plan to extend their services over the next two-three months to include Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and possibly link Sri Lanka to some popular Buddhist centres.

Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy believes that these flights mark the start of a new era. Speaking to The Indian Express from his constituency Chhapra, Rudy said: ‘‘With this, we expect we will be in a better position to utilise our entitlement on foreign routes which, in turn, will help generate employment and add to the economic growth of the country.’’

Echoing these views, Civil Aviation Secretary K Roy Paul said this ‘‘landmark’’ event could possibly be compared only to the decision to let private airlines compete in the domestic sector.

‘‘It is a major step in liberalisation, as major as letting private airlines operate on domestic routes. And this process of liberalisation will continue,’’ he said.

Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer maintains a start has been made in the right direction: ‘‘This marks our foray into international skies and we are optimistic of the opportunities both in the business and leisure segments.’’

His counterpart in Air Sahara Uttam K Bose too believes that the start of the Colombo operations makes it amply clear that the Government is keen on opening the international sector to private airlines.

‘‘This is what we believe. We have, in fact, drawn up plans to purchase wide-bodied aircraft over the next year or so for long-haul international operations.’’

Both airlines have already put in their requests to operate to Kathmandu and Dhaka. And, sources say, there are tie-ups with other international carriers to be announced in Colombo by both airlines separately.

It took 45 years for private airlines to enter the domestic sector and that too as ‘‘taxi operators’’ in 1992. The demand for access to foreign skies was made by operators five years later. A formal proposal was first made in 2001.

In June 2003, the Government indicated it was keen to let private carriers operate to SAARC countries but later left it to the Naresh Chandra Committee to examine the feasibility. But when the Prime Minister took the Colombo initiative, it was endorsed by the Cabinet and extended to all SAARC countries.

Apart from the operators, Roy Paul says it was the growing demand from travellers for improved connectivity — this lies at the heart of aviation reforms. This season alone, 2.5 lakh seats have been added through the open sky policy which the government has extended by a month. Yet all flights are overbooked.

Over the past decade, the market share of Air India, Indian Airlines shrunk to 35-40 per cent in international operations to and from India while foreign carriers have capitalised.

‘‘If we don’t allow private carriers, then how will we prevent poaching by foreign carriers?’’ asks an official. The flight to Colombo is a small step in reversing this tide. For now, both airlines are focusing hard to make the Colombo operations a success.