The Civil Aviation Ministry has given its go-ahead and procedural formalities will now be completed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

While SpiceJet completes its stipulated five years of domestic operations on May 23, IndiGo meets this condition only on August 4, 2011. Both wanted time to get their requisite infrastructure in place — and approach foreign governments — so they moved requests for in-principle approvals.

The criteria laid down for a private carrier to be eligible for consideration to fly abroad is a five-year track record of uninterrupted domestic operations with a minimum fleet size of 20 aircraft. Both these airlines already have the necessary fleet size and will, in due course, meet other criteria. Taking note of this, sources said, the government agreed to give in-principle clearances. The two airlines have targeted the South Asia region and slightly beyond. In fact, SpiceJet, which plans to start operations from June 1, is looking only at Kathmandu, Dhaka and Colombo to begin with even though its earlier plans included the Middle-East. IndiGo is looking not just at the SAARC region but also ASEAN and Middle-East.