Days after the IndiGo crisis, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government has given initial clearance to two new domestic airlines to begin operations. Over the past week, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu met teams from three upcoming domestic airlines — Shankh Air, Al Hind Air, and FlyExpress.
While the Uttar Pradesh-based Shankh Air has already received the no-objection certificate, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress were given the nod this week.
Naidu said that the Civil Aviation Ministry has been encouraging more airlines in the Indian Aviation market, which is currently dominated by IndiGo with over 60 per cent market share.
“It has been the endeavour of the ministry to encourage more airlines in the Indian Aviation sector, which is amongst the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world owing to the policies of the government of Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi,” Naidu said in a post on Tuesday night.
He emphasised that government schemes like UDAN have enabled smaller carriers—Star Air, India One Air, Fly91, etc.—to play an important role in the regional connectivity within the country. He also added that there is more scope for further growth.
The development comes just a few weeks after India’s largest domestic carrier IndiGo suffered unprecedented disruptions in its services.
The airline cancelled thousands of flights, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded at airports across the country.
The crisis, one of the worst in India’s aviation sector, stemmed from IndiGo’s failure to comply with the DGCA’s new duty rules.
IndiGo said that Flight Duty Time Limitation (FTDL) rules led to crew shortage and several other issues, such as bad weather conditions, which led to the disruptions in its services.
The crisis also prompted allegations of monopoly and duopoly in the aviation market. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that the IndiGo fiasco was the cost of the government’s monopoly model that ordinary people had to pay.