India Monday issued guidelines for private airlines to operate on international routes, stipulating a minimum of five years' operation in the domestic sector and at least 20 aircraft for eligibility.

The airlines would need a valid air operators permit (AOP), have to seek security clearance from the home ministry and get an approval from the aircraft acquisition committee, said the civil aviation ministry.

But they cannot reduce their operations in the domestic sector, or else their international flying rights can be reviewed.

The guidelines reiterated that barring state-owned Air-India and Indian Airlines, other carriers would not be allowed to operate to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for three years.

According to the ministry, the cabinet decision to allow only private carriers with five years of experience to fly overseas was taken on grounds that the more an airline operated within the country, the greater the reward to operate overseas flights.

The ministry asserted that notwithstanding the guidelines, the government could grant or deny them rights to operate on international routes at its discretion, keeping in view the preparedness of the airline, viability of operations and the overall interests of the civil aviation sector.

Consideration would be given to the operational plans of Air-India and Indian Airlines before allocating routes to other eligible carriers.

And all eligible scheduled carriers would be asked to submit their operational plans in the first and the third quarter of each year. At any given time an operational plan of up to one year would be considered for route or traffic rights allocation.

The allocation of traffic rights to an airline would depend on availability.

If the total entitlements fell short of the requirements projected by the eligible airlines, inter-se allocation of entitlements would be in the ratio of Air Services Kilometres (ASKm) or the amount of flying the airline had done in the domestic sector over the last five years.

The ASKm deployment of the airline in the domestic sector would be determined twice a year - on Jan 1 and July 1 of each year. Traffic entitlements decided on the basis of ASKm deployment would be rounded off to the nearest whole number.

Traffic rights allocated for the summer or winter schedule of a particular year would have to be utilized by the carrier within the same schedule. If they fail to do so, they can be banned for two years from that route.

The private airlines cannot reduce their operations in the domestic sector once they secure the rights to international routes. If they did, then their entitlements could be reviewed.

The route dispersal guidelines in the domestic sectors would continue, the ministry said.

"All airlines, private or public, have a well-defined route dispersal policy so that all areas in the country including remote areas like the northeast, the Andamans and regions of Jammu and Kashmir are well connected," said the ministry, ruling out any move to do away with the guidelines.

"It is not only for Indian Airlines but also private carriers to fulfil social sector commitments. Intra-connectivity is paramount."