India-Japan fares could come down with open-sky pact

NEW DELHI: Airlines from India and Japan will soon be able to operate as many flights as possible between the two countries with New Delhi and Tokyo set to sign an open-sky agreement. This could result in a reduction in air fares on these routes.

“With open skies, Japanese airlines can add as many flights, depending on availability of slots, at six major airports in the country: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Our carriers can also have no restriction on adding flights to Japanese destinations,” said an official in the aviation ministry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A memorandum of understanding on this was signed between the two countries last week after two days of negotiations. The formal agreement will be signed during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s India visit this month.

Among Indian carriers, Air India and Jet Airways fly to Japan and are interested in expanding the operations. Japanese carriers All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines operate flights to India.

Japan will be a new addition to the list of countries that have signed open skies with India, after the new civil aviation policy allowed such agreements with all Saarc nations and countries beyond a 5,000-km radius.

This agreement between two countries allows airlines from both sides to operate any number of flights to each other’s cities. India recently signed such agreements with Greece, Jamaica, Guyana, the Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka. Talks are on also with Bangladesh and Nepal, but they have not committed themselves yet.

While the new policy offers an open-sky policy covering the Saarc bloc, it sought a restrictive policy for countries that are within 5,000 kms from India. It proposed auctioning of bilateral rights in case foreign carriers seek flights beyond their existing quota, but the government vernment has not approved it yet.

The policy also mandates 80% utilisation of bilateral seat rights by Indian carriers to trigger any further increase in flying rights, extending the wait for countries like Qatar and Turkey for an increase in flying rights.

These countries had asked the Indian government to allow them to launch flights beyond their current quota. “They have sent demands but that have been rejected and we are replying to these countries that such a demand cannot be accepted,” said a senior aviation ministry official, who also did not want to be named.