The Indian government has allotted bilateral flying rights with five countries previously held by Jet Airways temporarily to Air India till the end of the summer schedule this year. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri made the announcement in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
"Bilateral rights of Jet Airways have been temporarily allocated to Air India/Air India Express till the end of summer schedule 2019 for the sectors as follows – India-Dubai at 5,852 seats per week; India-Hong Kong at 1,792 seats per week; India-Qatar at 5,670 seats per week; India-Singapore at 1,620 seats per week; India-UK at 4,788 seats per week," Puri said in a written reply. He added that domestic slots for 22 flights vacated by Jet Airways have been allocated to Air India as well.
Jet Airways shut down its operations on April 17 this year citing it had run out of funds. The reassignment of routes is an attempt by the government to keep the air lanes operational.
The allocation has no effect on bilateral air services agreements between two countries, which decides how many total flights (or seats) per week can be allowed to fly from one nation to another.
Once such an agreement is signed, each country is free to allocate flying rights to its respective airlines.