The Hindu : Business : India, Canada to liberalise air transport accord

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Thursday, Jun 09, 2005

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Business

India, Canada to liberalise air transport accord

Staff Reporter

Five-fold increase in passenger flights between the two nations "This agreement will help facilitate and encourage our rapidly growing commercial and scientific ties with India."

CHENNAI: India and Canada have agreed to liberalise the existing bilateral air transport agreement, which would translate into a five-fold increase in passenger flights between the two nations and allow Canadian air carriers to access Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.

An official release from the Canadian High Commission on Wednesday said the agreement, which takes effect immediately, includes an approximate five-fold increase in the weekly capacity for passenger services to 35 round trip flights per week for each country.

Each country can designate as many air carriers it wishes for flights between Canada and India. The Indian carriers can access Edmonton, Vancouver and two other cities in Canada, in addition to Montreal and Toronto. The choice of the two cities will be left to India, the release said.

Enhance ties

"This agreement will help facilitate and encourage our rapidly growing commercial and scientific ties with India," the release quoted Canada's International Trade Minister Jim Peterson. "The extended air services will also spur tourism and cultural exchanges, which will benefit both countries," he said.

Canadian Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre said the arrangement would allow the airliners of both countries to better meet the needs of the travelling public, including the business community. It also reflected a shared commitment to improved air services.

New provisions

Under the agreement, the airlines of both nations would be able to take advantage of the new code-share provisions under which an airline sells seats in its name on the flights of another airline. Another highlight of the agreement is the unlimited capacity for all-cargo services.

As per the previous agreement, the number of air carriers that could serve the market was limited: the total capacity was restricted to approximately seven round trip flights per week for each country and confined Indian carriers' effective access to Montreal and Toronto and Canadian carriers' to Delhi and Mumbai. It also did not provide for the flexible marketing arrangements such as code sharing that have become prevalent in recent years.

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