Technical issues snag Jet Airways' Mumbai-Shanghai flight

New Delhi: China has no "in-principle objection" to give clearance to Jet Airways to operate Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco flight, but certain technical issues need to be first resolved, Chinese ambassador to India Zhang Yan said here Wednesday.
"There are some technical issues and we hope they can be addressed soon," Zhang told reporters.
"There has been some progress and we hope there will be more progress. It will depend on the progress of the talks between the two sides," the Chinese envoy said when asked whether there was a timeline to resolve these issues standing in the way of clearance to Jet Airways.
During the January visit of Manmohan Singh to Beijing, India and China agreed to restrict the right of one carrier from each country to fly to three regions beyond the two countries.
Officials of the two sides are planning to meet next month to resolve issues relating to the fifth freedom rights, as Beijing first wants to reach an agreement on the three specific regions to which carriers from the two countries can fly from each other's territory.
But the delay in Chinese clearance has caused some anxiety in South Block, as India was prompt in allowing Chinese cargo carrier Great Wall Airlines to fly to Mumbai and Chennai despite security concerns by the National Security Council Secretariat and other agencies. In return, China was expected to give a clearance to Jet Airways for flying to Shanghai and beyond.
20/02/08 IANS/Sify

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2008, Jet Airways Feb 2008, New Feb 2008