Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Abu Dhabi: Talks on the renegotiation of the bilateral air service agreement between the UAE and India are expected to begin in two to three months, state media announced.
This came following a meeting between the UAE Ambassador to India Dr Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Banna and India's new Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri.
Puri, who was Minister of State with independent charge of Housing and Urban Affairs in the previous government, has been given independent charge of civil aviation this time in addition to his previous portfolio. He is also Minister of State for Commerce in the new cabinet.
The ambassador briefed the minister on the status of the bilateral air service agreement and reiterated a request by the UAE’s civil aviation authorities on the urgent need to start negotiations on revising the existing agreement since full capacity has been reached under the present pact.
Al Banna told the Emirates News Agency, WAM, that Puri was "very positive" in his response to issues raised by the UAE during today’s discussions. The Minister stressed that the UAE and India shared an important strategic relationship.
Talks on renegotiation of the bilateral air service agreement are now expected to begin in two to three months.
According to state media, Al Banna told Puri that the UAE followed an open skies policy and has never refused requests by Indian carriers to expand their operations in the emirates. He said the current conditions in the civil aviation market called for an increase in per capacity.
At present, there are 1,068 flights permitted per week between the UAE and India in both directions. UAE airlines operate just over 400 of these flights and Indian carriers operate over 500 flights. Around 138,000 seats per week are sold by UAE carriers.
Al Banna added that Emirati carriers were keen to expand their operations to more Tier 2 and Tier 3 Indian cities.
Earlier this week, Puri said airlines from the Gulf and other international carriers should be given the foreign traffic rights of Jet Airways, India’s major private airline which shut down recently.
"I believe that India should not be restrictive in terms of number of flights and so on, because if you have the capacity domestically, utilize it, otherwise don’t deprive ourselves of the economic opportunity. Because, I think if you have more players, prices come down," he explained.
State media reported that Jet Airways had a high volume of traffic to major airports in Gulf countries and that no Indian domestic carrier has so far been able to fill the gap.
Puri has set up a committee to distribute the foreign traffic rights of Jet Airways among different airlines.
