India, Hong Kong sign aviation pact

New Delhi: India and Hong Kong have signed an agreement on air services traffic rights that allows each side to operate 27 new flights. The agreement, which ended a long-standing dispute over the issue, was signed after two days of talks here on 17-18 December, a civil aviation ministry official said here today.
The agreement permits Indian airlines to operate 27 services to Hong Kong from any point of India. On the other hand, the Hong Kong carriers can operate 10 services to Delhi, six services to Mumbai and 11 services altogether to Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. Chennai was added as a new point of call for Hong Kong during the talks.
Both the parties also reached an agreement on the exercise of fifth freedom beyond traffic rights. Of the 27 services, the Indian carriers will be able to operate 14 services to West Coast North America, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.
Reciprocally, the Hong Kong carrier can exercise beyond fifth freedom rights through India on 14 services to Europe, excluding Britain.
19/12/07 The Statesman

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Dec 2007, New Dec 2007