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India, U.S. sign historic aviation accord
By agencies
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Thursday, 14 April 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: India and the United States have signed a landmark air travel pact that opens up skies for airlines of both countries, a move experts said will result in more commercial flights, lower fares and stronger economic ties.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and U.S. transportation secretary Norman Mineta signed the air traffic transport agreement. It replaces the existing pact that dates back to more than 50 years.
Airlines of both countries can now select routes and destinations based on consumer demand. The deal provides for open routes, capacity, frequencies, designations and pricing as well as opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements, including bilateral code sharing with domestic carriers.
It also allows cargo carriers to operate in either country without directly connecting to their homeland. The new pact replaces an agreement signed in February 1956 that restricted the number of airlines that could fly between the countries, cities served, frequency of service and pricing.
An estimated two million passengers travel between India and the United States. No U.S. airline currently operates a non-stop service to India.
From the Indian side, government-owned Air India (AI) operates services to the United States and flies to New York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles. Indian Airlines (IA), Jet Airways and Air Sahara are firming up plans to fly to U.S. destinations by next year.
The Indo U.S. open skies agreement will also result in direct flights from New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.
Besides, Indian carriers will be able to land in Washington, San Francisco and Houston