The Narendra Modi government on Thursday made it clear greater concessions to foreign airlines will not be given at the expense of Indian carriers even as it continues to negotiate with German carrier Lufthansa, which has cancelled flights between the two nations till October 20 over the air bubble disagreement.

Without taking the name of Lufthansa, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters, “We are all for foreign carriers operating here. But I think the time has come for the message to go out loud and clear that it will not be done at the expense of the Indian carriers.”

“Under the regulated (air bubble) arrangements, we are not insisting on total parity. Even near parity will do,” Puri added.

On September 28, Lufthansa had to cancel its flights between India and Germany from September 30 to October 20 as the DGCA withdrew permission, saying there are restrictions on Indians who want to travel to Germany and this puts “Indian carriers at a significant disadvantage, resulting in inequitable distribution of traffic in favour of Lufthansa”.

Jet bid clarification

The resolution professional (RP) of Jet Airways on Thursday denied reports suggesting that London-based Kalrock Capital has emerged as the winner of the bid for the airline that closed operations last April. In a clarification, the RP Ashish Chhawchharia says the creditors’ committee will vote on the bids till October 16. The airline has debt claims of over Rs 39,000 crore out of which a little over Rs 16,000 crore has been admitted by the RP.