Indian airline Vistara has tapped Sharaf Travels as general sales agent for West Asia and the Gulf, despite the Indian government undecided on repealing a law which restricts new airlines from launching international routes.
"Vistara is thrilled to have Sharaf Travels as our partner to lead our sales and servicing activities in West Asia," said Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh.
The current ‘5/20’ rule restricts airlines from flying overseas until they have been established for five years and have a minimum fleet size of 20 aircraft.
Vistara and fellow recent startup Air Asia India have been lobbying the government to scrap the current rule while established airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir want to see the status quo continue.
"The 5/20 rule will be re-addressed with certain changes or a new norm," minister of state for civil aviation Mahesh Sharma recently said.
Proposals in a new draft aviation policy have been put forward for a complicated domestic flying credits (DFC) system whereby airlines could start flying overseas once they have accrued sufficient credits from their domestic operations.
The draft policy also includes a proposal for a 2% surcharge on all air tickets which would go toward funding regular flight service to remote destinations within India.
