Yielding to strong lobbying by Indian carriers and opposition by political parties, the ministry of civil aviation has put a spoke on the plans of the United Arab Emirates government’s low-cost carrier Fly Dubai to connect smaller cities in India with West Asian (Middle East) nations at rock-bottom fares of Rs 4,500.

Just three days ahead of its inaugural flight from Lucknow to Dubai, the low-cost carrier had to announce a ‘delay’ in its operations on July 10. Fly Dubai’s plans ran into rough weather with many members of Parliament raising questions over access accorded to foreign airlines under Bilateral Air Services Agreements in the last 10 years. The airline was originally given permission by the ministry to fly from six destinations in India.

West Asian routes are lucrative for airlines flying from India. Incumbents such as Jet Airways, Air India and Kingfisher Airlines have a significant chunk of the market share in this segment. Competition, especially during times when the industry is going through a downturn, would have directly hit their income and profitability. They too put up stiff resistance to Fly Dubai’s plans, said a government official who did not wish to be quoted.

“It was feared that Fly Dubai, with its low-cost pricing and additional points of calls like Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Jaipur and Lucknow, would have mopped up a large part of the domestic traffic from India on these routes,” said a government official on the condition of anonymity. But, it was not to be. On July 10, Fly Dubai cited operational reasons for ‘delaying’ its India launch. It is uncertain when operations will commence, said an industry source.

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