Dubai has proposed to add as many as 50,000 seats a week to the current two-way capacity to India in efforts to expand air traffic with the subcontinent, said a report.

According to the report in The Economic Times, the proposal is sure to be opposed by local and foreign airlines as they see it disproportionately benefiting the emirate's flag carrier at the cost of others.

However, if the move goes through, carriers from both the countries will be able to fly up to 113,000 seats every week.

Dubai's Emirates, the world's third largest carrier by number of passengers flown, would be the biggest beneficiary of the move. It already operates 183 weekly India-Dubai flights, compared with the combined number of just over 300 by India's four international airlines - Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

The proposal comes even as the government is toying with the idea of auctioning traffic rights. Countries within 5,000 km of India, can bid for seats that are not utilised by Indian carriers. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al- Baker Monday criticised the proposal to auction seats, the report said.

Local airlines are also opposing the plan, although an increase in seat capacity could help ease the problems faced by lakhs of Indians working in Dubai and elsewhere in the UAE, especially during the holiday season in the Gulf when tariffs go sharply higher.

The proposal from Dubai has come at a time when India and the UAE are pushing more than ever for closer ties, it said.