Air Arabia explores tie-up as FlyEasy awaits DGCA nod to take wing

New Delhi: Sharjah-based airline Air Arabia is “evaluating” business opportunities with the Bangalore-based FlyEasy as it seeks to tap the huge potential of the Indian aviation market.[caption id=“attachment_2498146” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An Air Arabia aircraft. Image courtesy Air Arabia[/caption] FlyEasy is currently awaiting aviation regulator DGCA approval for starting a regional airline. It is one of the 16 airlines to have secured no-objection certificate from the civil aviation ministry to start commercial operations since 2011. In a statement today, the Gulf carrier also said that Indian aviation market had huge potential and it would continue to evaluate opportunities arising out of this market. “At Air Arabia, we are always open to examine new business opportunities as they come along. As such, a new opportunity has arisen with Fly Easy in India, in which we are currently reviewing and evaluating,” an Air Arabia spokesperson said. The airline, however, did not disclose specific details in this regard. FlyEasy officials could not be contacted for comments. It is a subsidiary of the Bangalore-based ABC Aviation and Training Service. In India since 10 years now, Air Arabia currently operates flights from its hub in Sharjah to 13 Indian cities – Jaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Chennai – operating over 112 weekly flights. As part of the aviation sector reforms, the previous UPA government had in 2012 allowed foreign airlines to invest up to 49 percent in the domestic carriers, leading to UAE national carrier Etihad picking up 24 percent stake in Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways. Besides, Malaysian budget airline AirAsia and Singapore Airlines also formed joint ventures with Tata Group and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace to launch two new airlines. Under the Draft National Policy, unveiled late last month, the government has proposed raising foreign direct investment in domestic airlines from the current 49 percent to over 50 percent if it were to opt for open skies policy for countries lying within 5,000 kms radius. PTI