India to seek airport slots for its airlines in future bilaterals

India may make allocation of airport slots for its airlines an essential part of any bilateral signed in future. This is after hectic lobbying and repeated complaints by airlines that they were being overlooked in terms of peak-time slots. According to sources, the civil aviation and external affairs ministries agree that countries showing interest in increasing seat allocations will be asked to provide slots to Indian airlines of their choice. “We are a big market in terms of passengers. Many foreign airlines want to expand in India. We intend to play to our strength," a civil aviation ministry official said. “There is a consensus in the ministry that we need to be more vocal about our carriers," the official added. Indian airlines complain lack of slots in foreign airports hampers scheduling and curbs the viability of their overseas operations. <br/>