By Sweta Singh
HYDERABAD, India, March 18 (Reuters) - Indian airlines are
in talks with ATR, Bombardier BBDb.TO and Embraer EMBR3.SA
to buy smaller planes to fly to the country's booming second and
third tier cities ahead of a government drive to get more of the
country connected by air.
National carrier Air India AIN.UL plans to add 40 new
planes to its domestic fleet by the end of 2017, of which 13
will be smaller turboprop planes for regional connections, its
chairman Ashwani Lohani told Reuters on Friday.
Lohani said the airline, which already leases eight ATR
turboprop planes and three Bombardier CRJ-700 70-seater
aircraft, would launch "a major foray" in to flying to smaller
cities this year.
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet SPJT.BO is also talking to small
aircraft makers to add to its fleet of 14 Bombardier Q400
turboprop planes, as it expands the number of shorter routes it
flies, a company spokesman said.
India's government in October outlined plans to boost
regional aviation connectivity by forcing airlines to fly to
smaller cities and reopening many of the country's 350 disused
airstrips as "no-frills" airports.
"The government's initiative to develop regional
connectivity encourages airlines to go into these markets and
creates an opportunity for us," said John Moore, head of sales
at ATR, one of several firms showing off their latest planes at
this week's airshow in the south Indian city of Hyderabad.
ATR, owned by Airbus Group AIR.PA and Italy's Finmeccanica
SIFI.MI , aims to sell about 90 planes to Indian airlines in
the next three to five years, adding to the roughly 30 in
operation currently, Moore said.
India is one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets
where passenger numbers grew a fifth last year to 81 million,
with lower fuel prices and rising disposable incomes helping
millions fly.
But most of the travel in a vast country that is home to 1.3
billion people is between the country's larger and wealthier
cities. The government wants to make air travel more accessible
for the masses rather than the relative luxury it is today.
Critics, however, say that forcing airlines to fly often
unprofitable routes where demand is unproven will stifle the
market and land carriers with unfair costs.
India's civil aviation minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, said
on Wednesday that the government planned to publish the final
civil aviation rules detailing the regional connectivity
programme next month.
($1 = 66.5600 Indian rupees)
(Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Keith Weir)