Indian Ministry of Civil Aviations Endeavours to Promote International Connectivity Guidelines

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India has decided to allow the Indian Scheduled Carriers including Air India to utilize the allocated bilateral till such time they reach the maximum permissible limit under Air service Agreements (ASAs). Air India's operational plan will receive due consideration in allocation of the traffic rights and entitlements. The Ministry has supported the approach outlined in the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) discussion paper in this context.The allocation of the traffic rights to Indian Scheduled Carriers shall be done well in advance upto a maximum limit of five schedules keeping in mind the demands from them, their capacities and capabilities, operational plans and other relevant factors. The utilization of allocated rights will be subject to regular monitoring and oversight by the Ministry of Civil aviation. In case of underutilization or non utilization of the allocated rights, the ministry may consider cancellation of the rights and levy of appropriate penalty.

Under the new arrangement, code share operations will be encouraged.

All possible steps will be undertaken to promote the development of the hub to enable Indian Carriers to carry 6th freedom traffic and attain a dominating position in the region. In order to cater to peoples' travel, trade and commerce needs to countries where ASAs do not exists, the Ministry will consider creation of traffic rights through ASAs with these countries.

The Ministry would regularly review the bilateral for promoting international connectivity with various potential regions of the world keeping in mind the demand by Indian Scheduled Carriers, international passenger traffic, trade and commerce and potential global and regional issues.