Is India Ready for A380 ???

New Delhi' s swanky Terminal 3 has only had a fleeting visit
from the world' s largest and most modern passenger aircraft, the A380
super jumbo.
So what' s stopping airlines from flying the big bird to India?
The simple answer is India' s Ministry of Civil Aviation, which is doing the
equivalent of flashing the dreaded
yellow and red lights that keep aircraft
on hold, interminably.
The ministry has held back permission
without citing any reasons, but aviation circles are rife with
speculation that the motive is to
protect Indian carriers. Some domestic
airlines that fly to Europe are worried
that the A380 would take away
passengers from their routes, with travelers lured by the new aircraft and
attractive fares that are possible with
the larger, more economical plane.
If true, such a deliberate delay would
be short-sighted and ultimately
against India' s own interests. Indian carrier Kingfisher has five A380s on
order and the option to buy five more.
Air India, which has a strong
partnership with Lufthansa, could also
make the A380 available to its
customers through its existing code- share agreement with the German
carrier on the Delhi-Frankfurt route.
Lufthansa was expected to start flying
the A380 on the Delhi-Frankfurt route
with the opening of T3. The airline
announced as much, but then it wasn' t allowed to fly the super jumbo to India, and instead had to deploy it
elsewhere.