Winter rush: Foreign carriers can increase capacity

Gearing up to tackle the increased air traffic during the winter holiday season, the Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday decided to allow international airlines to increase their capacity between December 1 and January 31 next year. The dispensation, an annual feature during these two months, essentially means that international airlines flying into India would be allowed to upgrade their aircraft to any capacity level on their existing frequencies at all airports in India.

“While the entitlements on number of flights per week and destinations would remain as per bilateral agreements, airlines would be allowed to operate bigger aircraft, having more seating capacity, during the period,” a Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson said. They added that the move would not mean any increase in the slots for any carriers.

The two-month period between December and January each year has been witnessing a huge increase in air traffic being operated at major metro airports in the country. The number of international passengers handled during December 2006 rose to 2,540 from 2,130 during November 2006. Similarly, in December 2006, airports in the country handled a total of more than 99,000 aircraft movements which were a good 4,500 more than what they handled in November 2006.