Four of the five Indian carriers were among the top 10 airlines carrying passengers to and from India during 2013-14, the latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows. The data gives the figures for over 75 international airlines that have regular scheduled operations to and from India.

Jet Airways tops the list with over 5.5 million passengers who flew on its flights to and from India during the year while Air India which carried 4.98 million passengers is at the second spot. Dubai-based Emirates is at the third place with 4.83 million people.

Interestingly, five West Asian carriers---- Qatar Airways at number five (1.85 million passengers), Air Arabia at number six (1.64 million passengers), Saudi Arabian Airlines at number seven (1.49 million passengers) and Oman Air at number nine (1.22 million passengers)--- are among the top 10 airlines that flew international passengers to-and-from India.

Air India Express and IndiGo are the other two Indian carriers which make the list of top 10 having carried 2.31 million passengers and 1.49 million passengers respectively. Among the known international airlines Lufthansa is at number 12 (1.12 million passengers) and British Airways is at number 15 (1.04 million passengers).

Bilateral pact impact

The data is likely to again start a debate on whether India has exchanged too many bilaterals with West Asian airlines. Detractors of the bilateral policy which grants rights to airlines to fly from one country to another point out that the liberal exchange of bilaterals has allowed the West Asian carriers to carry away Indian traffic.

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