Emirates chief warns limiting air traffic will hurt Indian airlines

UAE has asked India's government to approve 50,000 extra seats on flights connecting the countries

Emirates president Tim Clark was speaking at the Capa India Aviation Summit in New Delhi on Tuesday. Reuters

The head of Emirates on Tuesday said Indian airlines would lose out financially as a result of limited air traffic quotas between India and the UAE, which the Dubai-based operator believes should be increased.

The UAE has asked the Indian government to approve 50,000 more seats on flights between the two countries, but India's Civil Aviation Minister told Reuters it was not currently looking at increasing existing traffic limits.

Emirates president Tim Clark told the Capa India Aviation Summit in New Delhi he saw scope for "at least double" the weekly limit of 65,000 seats and that he regretted India's position.

"It is such a big market. It is not as if the cake is static, the cake is growing," he said.

If India embraced the so-called Open Skies policy with the UAE, it would grant airlines greater access to each other’s markets amid strong demand and rising competition, he said.

The UAE is one of the biggest overseas markets for Indian airlines — about 30 per cent of the workforce is from India, Bloomberg has reported. Indian airlines run more than 300 weekly flights to Dubai, Mr Clark said.

While he played down talk of any rivalry and said he did not regard Air India as an adversary, he warned that Indian airlines would be penalised by prolonging what he sees as curbs on traffic.

"The Indian carriers who have been so prolific in grabbing their share of the value chain, are short-changing themselves to the tune of about $1 billion a year" as a result of the traffic restrictions, he told the conference.

Mr Clark earlier told reporters he was hopeful that the UAE and India would resolve the questions over bilateral flying rights.

"We are hoping that the government will recognise the power of what we're talking about and that the Indian carriers, including Air India, will also say 'this is good for us'," Mr Clark said on the sidelines of the conference.

"I'm sure there will be a realisation. Hopefully, the governments will have a meeting of the minds and get that sorted."

Mr Clark said it was too soon to see any changes in premium demand due to continuing turmoil in the banking sector.