Gulf carrier Emirates has raised concerns over seat allotment in India. Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18's Madeeha Mujawar, Emirates President Sir Tim Clark said the government remains reluctant to give more seats to carriers.

“Indian remains reluctant to give more seats. It is not just for Emirates, it is for the Indian carriers as well because they are operating at very high seat factors on the Dubai-India market. So as long as you don’t give them extra seats, then it deprives them of upto a billion dollars a year of added income. However it is for the Indian government to decide, not us,” Clark said.

He added that the company is witnessing high international traffic coming out of India to the rest of world and does not see a problem with Air India's expansion.

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“Traffic out of India to the rest of the world is huge, it is unquantifiable because the Indian economy is growing at a huge pace, there are a lot of Indian residents abroad, so it is endless.” “Air India’s expansion is great. It is about time that Air India did this. There is plenty for all – I don’t see any problem for us and I wish Air India the best of luck,” Clark said.

He also denied having talks with Air India for a code sharing agreement.

(Edited by : Pradeep John)

First Published:Mar 21, 2023 6:26 PM IST