Domestic airlines are operating almost 14 per cent fewer flights than approved for the winter schedule.

Although 1,910 flights had got the nod by the Director-General of Civil Aviation, the airlines are operating only 1,643 flights daily, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Vayalar Ravi, told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The winter schedule started on October 30.

Alliance Air and Go Air are the only two airlines which are operating the exact number of daily departures which were approved.

Alliance Air operates 50 daily flights while Go Air operates all the 82 daily departures that were approved.

In the winter schedule, the cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines is operating about 42 per cent fewer flights than has been approved.

The Minister told Parliament that while 418 daily departures were approved for Kingfisher Airlines, it was operating only 243 flights a day.

Jet Airways operates 395 of the 404 daily approved departures while JetLite operates 109 daily flights of the 120 approved daily departures.

The State-owned Air India operates 255 of the 262 approved daily flights, the Minister informed the House.

The decrease in flights is, however, not leading to domestic air fares moving northwards.

HBL