File image for representation. , photo credit: V Raju
India and Russia have agreed “in principle” to revise their bilateral air services agreement, under which Russian carriers will be allowed to operate 64 weekly flights to various Indian cities, according to a senior official.
Under the existing agreement, Russia can operate 52 weekly civilian flights to India.
India has agreed “in principle” to increase the number of weekly flights that Russian carriers can operate to India. In this regard, the bilateral air services agreement will be amended, the official said.
Currently, Aeroflot is operating seven weekly flights to India while no Indian airline is flying to Russia. Earlier Air India operated flights to Moscow.
On condition of anonymity, the official also said that it will take some time for Russian carriers to fully utilize their quota of the total number of weekly flights allowed to operate in India.
Last month, an Indian delegation led by Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal visited Moscow for a meeting on bilateral cooperation in civil aviation.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation had said in a tweet that a protocol on cooperation in the civil aviation sector was also formalized in the meeting on February 17.
The meeting, which was part of the ninth session of the India-Russia sub-group on cooperation in civil aviation, was co-chaired by Mr. Bansal and Russian Deputy Transport Minister Igor Chalyk.
Under the India-Russia bilateral air services agreement, Russian carriers can operate flights to six points of call or destinations in India – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Amritsar and Ahmedabad. Indian airlines are allowed to fly to six destinations in Russia, including Moscow and St Petersburg, according to an update by the Ministry of Civil Aviation as of March 7.
India has bilateral air service agreements with around 116 countries.
Any designated airline of a foreign country may operate to/from a point in India if it is designated as a point in a bilateral air services agreement signed between India and the country concerned.
At present, the Government of India is not providing any non-metro airport as a new point of entry to any foreign carrier for operation of passenger services. This is due to a “significant imbalance in the number of points of call in favor of foreign carriers”, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.