Image that India is not giving bilateral flying rights is 'wrong': IndiGo CEO

New Delhi: The government is taking the right steps in opening up the aviation market and the image that the country is not giving any bilateral flying rights to overseas carriers is "just wrong", IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said on Wednesday.

Helming the country's largest airline, Elbers also said there is an enormous opportunity to have direct flights to international destinations from India.

With a fleet of more than 400 planes, the airline operates over 2,200 flights daily and has been rapidly expanding its international network in recent times.

"The image that some like to portray that India is not giving any traffic rights is just wrong. India gives selective traffic rights wherever it makes sense... The opportunities are out there and the traffic rights are being given in a way taking into consideration whether they are consumed by both sides...," Elbers said at a conference in the national capital.

Concerns have been expressed by certain overseas carriers, especially Gulf airlines, about India not increasing the bilateral flying rights. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets.

Elbers noted that for a long time, India had a situation wherein capacities of non-Indian operators here were significantly larger than the capacities for Indian operators here.

The current fleet orders made by Indian carriers, including IndiGo, is enormous, he said and stressed that there is the commitment to collectively invest billions and billions of dollars into building the infrastructure.

The Indian government is taking the right steps when it comes to opening the market and it requires a balanced approach, he said.

IndiGo is a household brand in India but is a "new kid on the block" for overseas customers, Elbers said as he mentioned about international expansion and efforts to make it a global airline.

He was speaking at the Aviation India and South Asia 2025 conference in the national capital.

Recently, the airline has started flights to London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Manchester.