Air fare set to rise as government refuses to allocate of Go First’s international flying rights
Flying rights are allocated on a bilateral reciprocal basis by the government to airlines of their country. Airlines cannot operate more flights than they are allotted.
Before filing for bankruptcy, Go First had obtained flying rights on lucrative international destinations like Thailand, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Oman.
Industry sources said that the airline was allotted around 8,000 seats per week to Thailand, 3,000 seats to Malaysia, 9,000 seats to Abu Dhabi and 1,200 seats to Singapore.
“These are very popular destinations from India and are seeing a huge surge in demand. But airlines are unable to launch flights as the government is not agreeing to reallocate Go First’s rights.
The Thailand government is likely to relax visa rules for India and China to increase tourism.
Thai Airways plans to double its fleet size, which had been reduced during its restructuring phase, with a particular focus on improving routes to India
The bankruptcy court order has imposed a moratorium which prohibits lessors from taking back their aircraft, forbids airports from cancelling the airline’s slots and the government from redistributing the airline’s flying rights.
Ticket prices are expected to rise during the upcoming festival and travel season, as the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is surging due to a hike in crude price. In September, there was a month-on-month increase of 14% to touch Rs 1.12 lakh per kilolitre (KL).
Additionally, with India hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup during October & November, there is going to be a further mismatch in demand supply scenario, executives said.
A senior government official said that due to the court order they are exploring how the airline’s rights can be redistributed.
“Since
