Exclusive: India resists UAE’s calls for more air access, wants domestic carriers to fly long haul – Reuters India

Exclusive: India resists UAE’s calls for more air access, wants domestic carriers to fly long haul – Reuters India

NEW DELHI, March 21 (Reuters) - India is not looking at increasing air traffic rights for the United Arab Emirates, despite calls by Gulf carriers, and wants its domestic airlines to offer non-stop long haul flights, its civil aviation minister told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

The UAE has urged India to increase the maximum number of seats between the two countries by 50,000 a week from about 65,000 a week today, but Jyotiraditya Scindia said: "at this point we're not looking at increasing it".

India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets where demand for air travel is outstripping the supply of planes. But the bulk of India's international air traffic is currently carried by Gulf airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, powered by efficient hubs like Dubai and Doha.