Air India and Indian Airlines will be prevented from flying the same routes in the Gulf and South East Asia under new Indian government plans.

Airline passengers in India have been spoiled for choice on some routes recently, but the government is intervening to prevent unnecessary competition between the two airlines.

Both airlines are state-owned and both are due to be privatised.

Traffic in the two sectors will be split equally between the two airlines, officials said.

Privatisation preparations

The Gulf routes are particularly lucrative, accounting for more than 30% of the revenue of each carrier.

The government hopes only one airline will fly to each destination under the new rules, but in cases where this is not possible, departure destinations may be divided instead, with one carrier serving north India and one south India.

On the most lucrative routes, the airlines may be assigned different time slots.

Tom Ballantyne, chief correspondent with Orient Aviation magazine, told the BBC's World Business Report the Indian government recognises there is no benefit in the two companies competing with each other.

"The Indian government and particularly the department of transportation really want to get both of those airlines into a pretty decent shape for some sort of a privatisation," he said.

"The ministry is very keen to rationalise their operations and have them far more profitable."