Air India's monopoly over international flying rights may soon come to an end. The government is considering doing away with the special 'Right to First Refusal' privilege enjoyed by the state-owned carrier almost a decade after private domestic airlines were allowed to fly overseas. This would free up foreign flying rights reserved for AI which are not being utilised currently. Two top government officials told The Indian Express that this may be included in the new civil aviation policy. "Discussions were held in the ministry and broadly there is a consensus that bilateral rights should be freed,and be allotted to the interested airlines," said one of them. The special privilege enjoyed by AI allows it the lone right to all seat capacity agreed to between India and any other country. If AI refuses,only then can the private airline stake a claim. In the last two years,the government has not allowed any major capacity addition on international routes by Indian carriers. So,while foreign carriers have been able to utilise their entitlements and wean away traffic,Indian carriers lag woefully behind. A top AI executive said the carrier had no objection. "But the private carriers shouldn't eye only those routes which the national carrier has developed," the executive said. Incidentally,the turnaround plan of AI advocates continuation of the 'Right to First Refusal' policy.
