NEW DELHI: With the grounding of Jet Airways significantly affecting the number of passengers flying from the country to Dubai, leaving many international slots vacant, national carrier Air India has announced that it will add two more flights to Dubai from June 1. While one flight will be added from Delhi, the other one will operate from Mumbai.
The decision by Air India to increase its operations in one of the most lucrative routes comes after the Central government started allocation of Jet Airways’ international traffic rights to other airlines for a temporary period. The government had earlier said that it will give priority to Air India while allocating such rights.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, earlier this week, decided to allot about 5,700 weekly seats to Air India, out of Jet Airways’ unused quota on the lucrative India-Dubai route. Besides this, Air India was also promised over 5,000 seats on India-Qatar route, besides about 4,600 additional seats to and from London.
Currently, Air India operates two flights to Dubai: a B787 plane from Delhi and an Airbus A320 aircraft from Mumbai. The India-Dubai route, owing to its connection with high business activity as well as popular holiday destinations, always remains high in demand.
In recent times, private carrier SpiceJet has increased its operations in a similar sector, while it is learnt that IndiGo has also shown a keen interest in flying more seats on the India-Dubai route.