More importantly, given the fact that the passenger traffic in India isslated for almost 8-9 per cent growth over the next couple of years, freshcapacities are absolutely essential. Reflecting which is the fact thatdomestic passenger traffic is expected to rise by one million during 1999-00to 13 million from the 12 million carried by all the airlines during1998-99. Incidentally, Indian Airlines is targeting 60-70 per cent of theadditional one million passengers. Given this ambition of Indian Airlinesand the current dearth in capacities, this might well be achievable for IAand hence, the case of increased capacities.

Importantly, this move by Sahara to increase its network to include 65flights daily covering over 18 destinations, should complement its proposedfeeder operations.Earlier Sahara had also announced plans for a feeder wingnamed Sahara Connect, with a fleet of 12 30-seater Brazilian aircraft.

These aircraft incidentally are to be operated on short feeder routes likeMumbai-Nagpur, Calcutta-Darjeeling, Chennai-Coimbatore andDelhi-Amritsar.

Thereby allowing Sahara to kill two birds with one stone. First, the feederroutes would give the airline the geographical reach required to attracttraffic in terms of destinations allowing it to compete effectively withIndian Airlines. Secondly, the cost effectiveness of the smaller aircraftwould also continue to ensure fiscal viability.

This aside, the time for the expansion also appears appropriate, given theimpending relaunch of ModiLuft in early 2000. This airline has however, beenasked to overcome certain financial hurdles (such as the deposit of a Rs 7crore sum with the Delhi high court and the settlement of dues totalling Rs28 crore) before it can take to the skies again. Given this scenario, themove by Sahara makes even more sense at this juncture.

However, the biased treatment of ATO's in the past has lead one to believethat for the Government, one person's meat is another person's poison. Moreimportantly, if the Government decides to safeguard the interests of its ownkith and kin, there is very little that the management of Sahara or for thatmatter any other airline can do to keep flying.