UAE, India share thriving aviation market in region

The UAE and India share a thriving aviation sector with carriers from both sides consistently recording significant annual upswing in passenger traffic on the back of a vibrant travel demand from the 2.8 million NRIs in the Emirates apart from fast growing two-way tourist traffic.

The latest data released by Dubai International Airport, or DXB, the world's busiest airport for international passengers, exemplify the fast growing air connectivity between the two countries.

DXB, which is targetting a traffic of 89 million in 2017, announced on Tuesday that it recorded capacity increases and witnessed the launch of new services by Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Air India and other carriers in 2016 as India continued to lead as Dubai's single largest destination country.

Both countries' aviation sectors are expected to get a further fillip following the second visit to the New Delhi by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to India aimed at elevating all-round bilateral ties to a new level.

The UAE and India had signed several aviation accords, including various seat quota agreements inked by New Delhi with Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah over the years to keep with the continuous surge in traffic demand.

While in 2015, India and Dubai agreed to liberalise bilateral air services agreement by increasing the then-55,000 weekly seat entitlements for each side by around 20 per cent, as per the present Air Service Agreement between Abu Dhabi and India, which was signed in 2013, both sides agreed to allocate an additional entitlement of 36,670 seats per week to designated carriers.

According to the latest available data, airlines from Dubai and India are entitled to fly 65,200 seats from each side at present. The bilateral agreement had further given flexibility to the airlines to fly two per cent additional seats to match their seat configurations taking the total entitlement to 66,504 seats.

While Etihad and India's Jet Airways, in which the Abu Dhabi-based carrier has a stake, operate more than 255 flights a week in each direction between Abu Dhabi and 15 cities across India, Dubai's Emirates, the world's third largest carrier by number of passengers flown, operates more than 180 weekly India-Dubai flights, compared with the combined number of just over 300 by India's four international airlines - Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary of state-owned Air India, last year boosted its operations to the UAE by adding 39 frequencies to its existing 107 flights per week to the UAE. This additional capacity has enabled the carrier to offer a total of 146 frequencies to the UAE per week or an average of 21 frequencies per day. Air India, which serves 360 weekly flights to the Middle East, announced on Tuesday the launch of its second Dreamliner to Dubai from Kochi.

Dubai accounts for a huge chunk of international passengers that fly in and out of India from several airports such as Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Madurai and Trivandrum. In fact, Dubai is the only country where the Indian carriers have fully utilised their seat entitlements.

Mumbai-Dubai and Delhi-Dubai continue to be the busiest international air travel routes out of India, according to government data. The current entitlements between Dubai and India are almost fully utilised on both sides. Air India IndiGo and SpiceJet have also been ramping up their operation in the sector with increased frequencies and new destinations.

Low-cost carriers Air Arabia and flydubai are also active in the sector by flying to scores of Indian cities ferrying tens of thousands of passengers. Air Arabia started flying to India in March 2005 and offers more than 112 flights a week, flying directly from its hub in Sharjah to 13 destinations in India. While most international carriers service Indian metros, Air Arabia has focused on connecting other cities. The strategy has paid off and the airline covers 13 cities.

Flydubai, which started India operations in 2010 with the launch flight to Lucknow, now serves eight destinations in the country following the launch of services to New Delhi, Kochi, Chennai, Trivandrum and Mumbai.
UAE-India aviation facts

65,200 seats currently from each side for airlines from Dubai and India

2% additional seats can take the total to 66,504 seats

255 weekly flights by Etihad and Jet Airways in each direction

180 weekly India-Dubai flights by Emirates

300 combined flights by Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com