Emirates in talks for India rights

Dubai’s Emirates Airline is in talks to increase its bilateral rights with India as it looks grow its network of routes across the subcontinent, a senior executive at the carrier said. The world’s largest airline by traffic, which has already said it would be open to investments in India, said it wants to increase its frequency on existing routes, but denied any plans to invest in struggling Kingfisher Airlines. “Emirates will look at any opportunity that makes sense commercially. We are optimistic of FDI being allowed in the sector,” Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ senior vice president for commercial operations, Indian Ocean, told The Times of India. “We are witnessing a growth of 18 percent in the very important Indian market and our 185 weekly flights see load factors of over 80 percent. There is a need to increase capacity as we are fully utilising the current rights given to us and we are waiting for some good news soon,” he added. The Indian subcontinent generates about 11-12 percent of Emirates' total revenue, the report said. Emirates operates 21 A380s, with 69 more on order as it seeks to further establish Dubai as a global aviation hub.