Qatar Airways has requested Indian Aviation Authority for a temporary increase in seats on their flights to India. 

The official airline for Qatar wants to increase seats on its high volume routes such as Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore. 

A PTI report published in Indian media said that according to the aviation framework between India and Qatar, one country's airlines can fly a maximum of 24,292 passengers per week.

Qatar Airways statement issued to the PTI read, “Our contingency plan is designed to make an additional number of seats available on certain high volume routes (Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore), but only on a temporary basis and without formal changes to the current weekly seat capacity entitlement established under the 2009 Qatar-India bilateral aviation framework.”

The blockade on Qatar and withdrawal of 28 weekly between Doha and cities of New Delhi and Mumbai has increased the pressure on available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the airline said.

With Jet Airways ceasing all international operations, Indigo halting its non-stop flight service to Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad and beginning of summer vacations in July, expats in Doha are looking at alternative flight options to India. "The reduction in seats offered and the increase in demand due to vacation is placing a lot of pressure on costs," said one of the travel agents in Qatar, not wishing to be identified. 

Indian travellers at present have to re-route their travel or are forced to choose expensive last-minute tickets. 

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