9 seats for every incremental seat - would you buy that deal?

"Revising the bilaterals is one thing but revising the bilaterals adversely is another." (Tim Clark-Emirates)

Past "errors" - if they may be termed as such - cannot be corrected through unrealistic demands, such as requesting nine additional seats for every incremental seat offered to Kuwait.

India's recent approach to revising ASAs with GCC countries, particularly in some cases, has been short-sighted and self-defeating.

"Entitlement per NRI" sheds light on the enormity of variance in bilateral allocations and how they fail to align with the Govt's stated policy of considering 3rd/4th freedom demand as the primary driver for determining capacity entitlements. In some instances, allocations far exceed P2P demand at the cost of direct, affordable travel options for NRIs.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are particularly underserved and at the bottom of the ASA charts, and while their entitlements warrant attention, they do not represent the entirety of the issue.

The seemingly high allocations for certain countries do not translate into tangible benefits for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Let's take the case of Bahrain. Only about 20% of the total capacity is accessible/ available to the diaspora in Bahrain, while the rest serves 6th freedom needs.

In Kuwait's case, the ASA was last revised in 2007, 14 years ago when the Indian diaspora was approximately one-third of the current 1 million. Kuwaiti carriers are not significant players in the 6th freedom market compared to some of the neighbours, so the reluctance to revise the bilaterals equitably is baffling and unreasonable.

India, with big national ambitions in aviation, requires a stable vision and consistent leadership for formulating and implementing long-term policies and pursuing cohesive strategies; the fact that the Civil Aviation Ministry has seen 4 ministers in the last 6 years doesn't help the case.

A timely course correction would be welcome.

Stay tuned as we piece together the story to make the case for enhanced air connectivity for millions of Indians living in the Gulf!

Next week, we’ll look at the UAE and Saudi Arabia (2/2) and subsequently conclude with a comprehensive synthesis of the insights explored throughout this series.

Edition 1 - Size and significance of the diaspora - https://bit.ly/4dkRSmz
Edition 2 - The quantum and significance of remittances - https://bit.ly/4gNwzwO
Edition 3 - The quantum and significance of trade - https://bit.ly/4dQavyW
Edition 4 - The glaring variance "Review week" - https://bit.ly/3YK2jMg

(This write-up is for educational/ informational purposes only and figures are directional/ indicative due to strategic reasons)

(Views my own; happy to amend inaccuracies, if any)