India is seeking four seats for its carriers against every extra seat it allows Dubai-based airlines, Economic Times, an Indian financial daily, reported, citing people aware of the matter.

“(The) UAE-based airlines use these allocations for Sixth Freedom traffic to Europe and North America, which have higher ticket value. Indian airlines mostly stick to point-to-point service to Dubai,” an unnamed senior Indian government official said.

Hence, there is a requirement for more parity in policy to favour Indian airlines, the official told the newspaper

The Sixth Freedom traffic refers to passengers transported by an airline from one country to another via its airports.

Under the bilateral air service agreement inked between the UAE and India in January 2014, airlines of both nations are allowed to operate 66,000 seats per week between Dubai and 15 Indian cities. The Indian and UAE airlines have exhausted this quota.

In October, Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates, told CNBC-TV18, an Indian news channel, that freezing of flying rights despite the increasing movement of people between India and UAE is not a “healthy environment.”

The current situation requires “more capacity, flexibility, places and routes to be added in the future”, he added.

(Editing by Brinda Darasha; brinda.darasha@lseg.com)